Julie Weitz

My work addresses the complex and entangled ways in which we picture others and ourselves. For this series of paintings I began with a literal, if not impractical attempt to represent, as accurately as possible, the portrait of an individual hidden from view, disguised by the covering of a mask. Through a process of gathering and sorting through images of individuals wearing masks, gleaned from a variety of contexts, I discovered the metaphorical potential of these images to represent—through a careful and deliberate method of painting—the desire to understand what remains hidden from view. By meticulously rendering a portrait of an individual whose identity remains concealed, I intend to present a contemplative way of understanding an already loaded and overstated image, while taking into account the contradiction indicative to the representation of someone hidden. The mask, evoking various yet familiar associations from terrorist to prisoner, superhero to villain, and religious figure to thief, stands as an anonymous reminder of the fear of what we do not know and what we do not understand—provoking difficult questions of identity concerning the very designations assigned by it. - Julie Weitz