Portrait Artist

Gwenn Seemel

Portrait Artist

Acrylic on Canvas

17x21

2005

Gwenn Seemel is a French-American artist who was raised part time in Brittany, France and part time in San Francisco. She attended Willamette University and now resides in Oregon with her sweetheart as a full time artist.

“Every portrait is a portrait of mortality and, subsequently, a portrait of a life consciously lived.  That’s the idea anyway.” –Seemel

This piece was created for a show titled Private Masks, Public Faces. It was a show that paid respect to people who worked in jobs relating to death, including mortuary workers and military (Private Masks). The Public Faces portion relates to a king’s portrait being commanded as deserving as much respect as the king’s flesh and blood. In other words respect to those who deserve it, but don’t get respected each day.

I chose this portrait because Seemel’s use of color and brush strokes really grabbed my attention. The use of color makes it seem as though the image is alive. The bright red jumps off of the page. There is such passion in this painting and it is contrasted with the simple smirk that is on the subject’s face. The brush strokes also really add to the intensity in this piece. I was amazed when I first saw this painting.

(Kyle Tossetti)