oil, board; 28 x 12 cm
Signature p. d: AN/NA
Signed, dated, described on the back: OIL ON DESK / "JUST YOUR/LIPS"/AN/NA/ ANNA CHMIEL 2017/ OIL ON DESK/ CREDO-STICKED CREAM.
In 2006, I came across a large collection of digitized Japanese photographs from the first half of the 20th century. The owner of the collection turned out to be a former U.S. soldier-Rob, who came to be stationed in Okinawa as a 20-year-old and has remained there. For almost half a century he has been photographing Japan's island of longevity and collecting old photos. Photography was an invention of the West so many of the ways of building scenery, light settings were related to European portraits. However, the Japanese assimilated the foreign technique and perfected it in their own distinctive way. Until the invention of color photography, pictures were reflected and painted by hand. I was fascinated by the artistic level of Japanese photographs and the perfection of the coloring. Over time, some colors began to discolor others faded. These changes gave the photographs a new character and this became the impetus for me to paint pictures. To relate to the theme of time and the portrait tradition, I decided to use the oil technique of the old masters of European painting. I made the sub-images and tinted emulsion primers myself. Over time, I transformed some of the shots by referring to contemporary art.
-Anna Chmiel
