The New York Times Obituaries are well known for their journalistic qualities. They capture history and
feature individuals who are, for the most part, not household names but those who have made a wrinkle in the
social fabric. Combined they are a mirror on a past that is slipping away.
Captivated by these lives and their stories, Nina took her daily interest in reading New York Times
obituaries to the process of repetition and daily practice of drawing a portrait provided with each
article. This process resulted in 365 sketched portraits in 12 Moleskine books from January 12, 2009 - January 11, 2010.
While the daily practice of drawing resulted in a discipline as well as a chronological development in
technical skill, the close examination of each portrait provided an emotional and personal connection to
each person’s life. The decision of whom to draw from the daily selection was based on the who, and what
they’ve done but also sometimes merely on how they looked or the composition or quality of the image
provided. As the year wore on the selection criteria developed a curatorial aspect and thought was
given to whom to add to the collection: should it be the boxer who for a brief moment in the 1940’s carried
the title, or the felon whose life is all but forgotten but whose crime is remembered?
The paintings evolved as an obvious next step to creating a personal interpretation of public
memory. As in her earlier work , rather than adopt photography as a tool to achieve more accuracy
of visual representation, Nina was more interested in how painting from photographs might reveal
forms of personal inaccuracy, even in its most subtle presentation.
The written obituary may be the final word on a notable life but in Nina’s work each
portrait takes on a life of its own that goes beyond death. In the end the body of work
represents a celebration of life not death.
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