Specio

The Specio series began in 2017 and features figurative portraits seeking to explicate emotional responses to the nude body. The figures are distorted to the degree that the face and body share an alternate context, underlining the decontextualization we apply when first observing a naked human. We respond outwardly to the face and the model's expression, yet inwardly to the physical body, judging, assessing or comparing. These body types exist outside the narrow criterion for “physically attractive” and, isolated from the context of a background, meet our gaze and provoke the viewer to reassess the contrast between the portrait and the nude. The word "Specio" means to "observe" or "look at", and this series challenges the dominant dynamic of the observer.