Portraits

Most of these portaits were created while I was living in Sydney, from 2005 - 2008. My portraits reveal my longing to seek the inner divine while also being captivated by my muses’ beauty. My models were all close friends and we were all from different places, bringing their own cultural vibe. From Sydney I also travelled to places such as Tonga, New Zealand, Cambodia and Thailand, absorbing the rich cultural symbolism that fed into my work. I wanted to capture an outer shell, yet often in poses or prayer or inner contemplation, also reveal a depth of inner longing for vconnection to the divine. I wanted to show my fascination for their strong and captivating features. The golden patterns reference scarification, gold icons such as Buddha’s and the carved figures of the Maori ‘marae’ buildings, which are their spiritual and community meeting houses.