Finalist
The idea for this work was drawn from the uncanny resemblance of my student Anthony to a young Rembrandt. I envisioned connecting paint and pixel, and spatial and temporal relationships. Shot mostly with my cell phone camera in four separate studios, the piece addresses that duality: my oil portrait of Betty, standing nearby, counters a black and white digital photo of Anthony, who sits beside two computer images of Rembrandt’s self-portrait. The canvas portrait of Anthony with Rembrandt hair was partly painted, partly photo-shopped. The viewer threads their way to Rembrandt, then they skip back to the future, past Betty, where a barely visible young woman lingers with her BlackBerry.