“There’s no secret. Whenever I can, I do a lot of talking with the subjects before we start. I guess I just look at what’s really there instead of what I want to see or what the subject wants me to see.”
This idea is probably controversial for a lot of artists! Often, the artist doesn't have the opportunity to have conversations with the model, or wouldn't necessarily want to because of how it might influence the artwork. But of course there are many examples of artists who created beautiful, inspired works based on models they knew (and in many cases, loved). I liked the idea that Sullivan might be interested in talking to the people before they sat for her, and that it would help her capture something Dodie saw as essential and true.
Recently, I read about a painter named Brian Peterson of Faces of Santa Ana (facesofsantaana.com) who gets to know his neighbors experiencing homelessness and paints wonderful portraits of them and then donates part of the proceeds to their life necessities. You can sense how the stories they have told him add texture to his portraits of them.
I have always been in awe of how many different kinds of visual art there are and how many different styles of making it, and how it can transform us and connect us to other people—also true of books, of course.
