Portrait from A Thousand Moments

This intriguing work depicts a monumental portrait of a woman that only becomes fully visible from a distance. Up close, the face breaks down into hundreds of tiny photographic fragments: people, faces, gestures and fleeting moments come together to form the eyes, nose, mouth and contours. This creates a fascinating interplay between portrait photography, collage and contemporary art.

The almost monochrome composition in white and deep blue lends the work a calm, graphic quality, whilst the enormous wealth of detail actually lends it a sense of vibrancy. Particularly around the left eye, the hairline and at the bottom of the image, recognisable human figures are densely packed together. Elsewhere, they almost dissolve into delicate, organic structures. The large white areas on the face are striking: they do not function as empty space, but give the portrait breathing space and reinforce the illusion of distance.

What is remarkable is the dual way in which the work can be viewed. At first, a serene feminine gaze appears; then you discover a whole world of individual stories. In this way, the work seems to play with the idea that an identity never consists of a single image or a single memory, but is built up from countless encounters and moments.