Light Portraits
Light Portraits transform photographs of Marie-Lou Desmeules’ Living Sculptures into illuminated objects. Each work begins with a living body altered through paint, material, costume and staging, then photographed and mounted within a shallow black lightbox. Lit from within, the image acquires depth and architectural presence, moving between portrait, sculpture and icon.
Light
Frame
Materials
Portrait
Lightbox
Installation
Forms
Formats
S —65 × 85
M —85 × 110
L —105 × 138
Depth—8CM
FROM BODY TO LIGHT
The Light Portraits extend the temporary life of the Living Sculptures. What first existed on a body for the duration of a performance becomes a persistent, luminous image.
Internal light intensifies colour, texture and artifice, while the frame gives the portrait the physical presence of an object rather than that of a conventional photograph. The work occupies the wall architecturally: part portrait, part sculpture, part illuminated sign.
Drawn from figures in art, history, politics and popular culture, the portraits do not simply imitate their subjects. They reconstruct the public images through which those figures are recognised and remembered. Suspended between recognition and invention, each work examines what remains of a person once identity has been transformed into an icon.
TECHNICAL NOTE
Each Light Portrait is produced as a wall-mounted photographic lightbox with integrated illumination.
Available for exhibitions, commissions and acquisitions by enquiry.
Related Works