The proportions and expressions of the human face are vital to identification and guiding our social interactions. Face perceptions are very complex as the recognition of facial expressions involves extensive and diverse areas in the brain. The fusiform gyrus is the part of the brains temporal lobe that deals with facial recognition. It interacts with the occipital lobe and is stimulated when we see faces and helps us remember an acquainted face. Our brain recognizes faces by analyzing individual parts and constructing a sort of natural barcode. This cached information is then scanned to determine familiarity.

Recognizing faces involves more than basic perceptual manipulations of sensory information to derive recognizable details. It also involves the recollection of memories and past experiences that are associated with that person or face. I am interested in the affect these memories have on our recollection. What we perceive a person to look like is not just the lines, shapes, and forms created by their physical appearance, but our personal experience with them as well.

I draw portraits that attempt to portray the essence of a person that we come to know through our experiences with them. By superimposing multiple images and showing different perspectives of a person, I create an image that is much like the way in which we construct our memory of a person.  The resulting affect simulates how after a prolonged period of not seeing someone; we have an image in our head that’s very distinct from what they actually look like.  My drawings convey the multidimensional characteristics of our perception of people. 

Drawings