Artwork / 2019 / Kimberly

Kimberly’s portrait is one of eleven I painted for The Future We Need, a book about collective bargaining and how it can be used by more than just labor unions. The others are of Allyson, Bettie, Cynthia, Deloris, Heather, Jeff, Lidia, Rubynell, Sanchioni, Sarita, and Smiley. With this series, I rediscovered my beginnings as a portrait painter. At the start of my career, I painted everyone from Portland gallery owners to Oregon public servants, and I did so without the added elements that I included in Swollen for example. It felt good to return to the directness of a simple portrait collection.

For more about Kimberly and my encounter with her, check out this blog post. You can watch the making of her portrait.