Cindy 2000

Chuck Close made this portrait, Cindy, using a photographic process. You know, the kind where the image slowly emerges in a chemical bath. There is something so cool about that slow reveal. I’m drawn to the way Close captures every little detail, every freckle and line on Cindy’s face. It’s like he's mapping the surface of her skin. Look at how the light catches her left eye; it feels so alive, so present. The way the image hovers between clarity and blur is cool. The tonal range is really restrained, not quite monochrome, but definitely operating in a limited spectrum. The way the details in Cindy’s hair dissolve into the darkness, it's like he is looking at her, not in a clinical way, but in a way that tries to understand the whole person. Think about Gerhard Richter’s portraits, these artists are all concerned with time and memory, and how that affects the way we see each other, and ourselves.