The Actor - He May Display Or Hide

The Actor - He May Display Or Hide

Oil on Canvas
122 x 91.5 cm 

This is a portrait of my son the Hollywood actor and screen play writer, Laurence Fuller.

Having drawn and sculpted Laurence since he was a child coming to see the subject in a new light takes on a new meaning in manhood.

For me this quote explains better than I can what I see in this portrait.

“In acting and speaking, men show who they are, reveal actively their unique personal identities and thus make their appearance in the human world, while their physical identities appear without any activity of their own in the unique shape of the body and sound of the voice. This disclosure of “who” in contradistinction to “what” somebody is—his qualities, gifts, talents, and shortcomings, which he may display or hide—is implicit in everything somebody says and does.”

Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition

Knowing a person so well can be an impediment and an advantage for the artist.

For me getting beyond the photographic, which never captures time, is the essential element of bringing a portrait to life.