On Human Realism/The Figurative Figure

I love to paint eyes. It's one of my most favorite things. It does occur to me, however, that some people get very uncomfortable when looking at a paining that is looking at them. When you're standing in front of a painting or drawing in which the figure's eyes are focused at the viewer, especially if the figure is life-sized or close to it, something internal is made a little wiggly. It's different than staring at a still life, for sure. And that's just it: figurative painting can't sit still. We watch a sleeping person in a painting, recognize the form, the structure of a human face and body, and because it makes no sense otherwise, we place a mental overlay on top of the image, a recording. We imagine, we make believe, the figure is breathing. Now, open that figure's eyes and point them right at the viewer, and that's why so many have trouble staring at one for long. The viewer is engaging in a staring contest they cannot win! Maybe something primal inside them taps them on the proverbial shoulder and informs them that the total insano facing them down doesn't even blink. He doesn't even blink, man! And so they cower, they look away, move on.

So how to make that moment something someone would invite into their life, into their home? Well, as much as it can tap into some human reflex to run away, that's not the only human reflex.

I think about this a lot since I paint figures mostly, and many times, the person I'm painting is not someone the buyer even knows. I try to imbue my figures with some sense beyond the obvious, each one specific and different in a way that, hopefully, different types of people will have a reflexive reaction to. Something for everybody, I guess? It's kind of optimistic, really, to believe that people will feel the way I want them to when they look at a piece, but it happens whether it's designed to or not. It's a great social experiment! I do it for me: pour something of my self into this person, this representation on canvas, and it acts like a visual for a conversation I'm not having out loud. It's very interesting for me to see who is attracted to which conversation.

Anyway, maybe none of that is real. Maybe I'm reading too far in? But I can't help it! I'm around my own paintings all the time, staring at me from out of their imagined worlds. Sometimes I do get drawn in. Sometimes I realize I'm engaging in that conversation. Since it's not a great idea to engage in too much circular self-to-self, I remain hopeful that not everyone is afraid to look a painting in the eye. Hopefully, someone stumbles upon my staring contest champion, and feels what I felt when I made it, speaks the language of that moment, and takes them home to pick up the thread of conversation. Maybe you?

Cheers!
Laurelin