| BOB DRAKULICH |
My Hug
The artist's intention in painting portraits is to depict not only the appearance of the person, but also their character and personality. However, the more he paints the more he realizes that it is not just “them” that he is painting, but rather his own perspective of them. The artist has learned that he cannot dismiss his own opinion, understanding, and viewpoint when he paints someone. Thus, all of his portraits are as much of himself as of the person that he is depicting. That is why one of the artist's series are portraits of himself in the way he believes his friends and loved ones see him. The artist usually paint portraits of people in his life from the perspective of his own feelings about them, and now, in this series, he wanted to show the subjects' feelings for him – at least, what he perceive to be their feelings for, and perspective of him. The series entitled “Holds” is of the artist, hugging himself, in the way that he believes particular people in his life would embrace him. Thus, these paintings are images in reverse – as much a portrait of the people that the artist has been close to as they are portraits of the artist himself.