Julie Brown

There are two contradictory theories about the human face.  The first compares the face to a map of the heart. When a skilled map reader gazes upon the face, the history and secrets of the heart reveal themselves.  The second theory asserts that the face (along with the body and all else that we see in ordinary life) is a mystery which can never be plumbed. 

The tension between these two theories is the magnet that keeps me attached to my series of paintings inspired by old photographs.

I started collecting antique and vintage photographs when I was an abstract painter, long before it occurred to me to use them as subject matter.  Perhaps I was drawn to them through childhood memories of my great-grandfather, who would sometimes show me a photograph of his one-room school classmates and teacher in Edinburg, Illinois, and tell me stories about them.  The photos I work from are often informal images, created by amateurs, of people who are unknown, unnamed and no longer living.  What they have in common is a certain psychological presence or the implication of a relationship that resonates with me.  The images reward my close looking, especially during the process of painting.  I often feel as if I am in a dialogue with my subjects. Ultimately, one can never answer the many questions they raise.