This exhibition of new work by celebrated photographer, Deborah Paauwe, leans on her Chinese heritage to create a series of portraits that obscure the human, presenting an unconventional composition. “This new body of work was inspired by my part Chinese background and the Chinese history of concealing feelings through blank facial expressions. I have extended this idea of masking feelings by finding props, such as a fan or mirror, to conceal the face of my subjects,” Paauwe explains.
Paauwe is “fascinated by the unspoken and intrigued by the challenge we face in reading the thoughts and emotions of the people around us” so by obscuring the subject, Paauwe’s portraits require the viewer to look beyond the surface of a facial expression.
Greenaway Art Gallery
Until July 27, 2012
South Australia
Purple Mountain, 2012, giclee print, 120 x 120cm
Courtesy the artist and Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide
