PORTRAIT OF MY WIFE

STEPHEN MULLINS

My subjects were always friends—those who were available and interested in posing for a few hours. In exchange I would pose for them. This mutual arrangement led me to develop a collection of drawings of (and by) the most important people in my life, including my wife, Fani.

In this drawing I investigated two spatial concepts: first the concept of enclosure and second the shared properties of space and body. Space wraps around the figure and around the book, chair, floor, and walls. Layers of enclosures nest one around another and create an effect of interiority. The area of the drawing was only a few feet; as a result my point of view was very close to the subject. The tight workspace encloses the viewer within the interiority of the drawing.

In the drawing space is treated in the same manner as flesh. The difference between the two occurs only through slight variations in their drawn qualities. The use of erasures, smudges, and lines distorts and extends the body. This creates an intervening of space, time, kinetics, and immersion.

FIGURE 29

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Charcoal and red and black chalk on paper