The Vacated Face

Be melting snow

Wash yourself of yourself

                                                      Rumi

The Vacated Face

This started with a simple idea. Portraiture celebrates identity and ego. Meditation involves stepping outside of self, at least for a moment. The project ‘portrayed’ habitual meditators during their practice. Background research encompassed  religious, cultural, ethical, psychophysical and clinical aspects of meditation practice.

Phase one involved recruiting and videoing individuals for whom meditation is a daily ritual, within a range of traditions (religious and secular). The initial artistic response  was video-based.  That was followed by portrait drawings based on the video material.

Phase two involved other media, collaboration with an actor and choreographer and related grant applications.

A related bibliography/resource list is in the education section of the website.