The Beloved ones

Live performance of portraits in shadows

Creating someone’s portrait is an act of love. Through this guided meditation, the artist lends you their hand to bring to life a portrait of someone you love. How would you describe their gaze? Which smile springs to mind? Dive into your imagination and leave with a life-size, deeply personal souvenir.

The artist sits at the overhead projector, which projects onto a white cloth behind a curtain. The participant steps behind the curtain, closes their eyes, and lets themselves be guided by the artist’s voice. The artist takes them to a place where they feel perfectly safe. They are then asked to imagine that, in this place, someone appears to give them a hug, and that this hug brings them a feeling of deep well-being. The artist then proceeds to draw the person described, hair, eyebrows, eyes, nose, smile, making the silhouette appear step by step with the person’s words.
Participants leave with a portrait of their loved one, and a photograph of the embrace projected onto them. It speaks of longing, grief, and the many shapes love can take.