From Likeness to Fiction: The Portrait Inside Out

From Likeness to Fiction: The Portrait Inside Out

Curated by Janet Werner (Concordia)

Exhibition Hall, Department of Creative and Festival Arts, The University of The West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad W.I,

May – June 2016

“From likeness to fiction: the portrait inside out,” opened at Rodman Hall at Brock University in Ontario, Canada. This exhibition was a collaborative project between the Visual Arts Department, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University and the Department of Creative and Festival Arts, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. Art students, alumni and faculty at Brock University and UWI , under the guidance of Professor Shawn Serfas in Canada and Lecturers Lesley-Ann Noel, Michelle Boyd, Kenwyn Crichlow, Deborah Clement, Che Lovelace and Elsa Clarke in Trinidad, explored the development of character and identity in portrait representations. Responding to a project developed by acclaimed Canadian painter, Janet Werner, students, alumni and faculty, considered questions such as: How can one represent not only external appearances, but also invisible aspects of the self, different aspects of our identities, the imaginary worlds we hold within and the inner life of the subject. How can a portrait move beyond a conventional framing of the figure to convey ideas that reflect different aspects of identity.