Susan White Brown
These painting installations depict people in museums engaged
in looking at the art on display; viewers are the subjects of the
work. Looking at art informs an individual’s sense of her/his/
their own context in society, of who is creating context and
whether that context needs revision. These “portraits” are meant
to be reflexive: viewers who are present in the gallery space see
themselves, and each other, in their painted counterparts.
A solitary figure determines the space within each canvas—and
beyond it—through gaze, stance, and scale. This empowerment
of the pictured viewer in turn implies empowerment of the live
viewer in the gallery. Though relationships among the portrayed
figures vary with grouping and placement, each observer’s
perception of their presumed identities is unique. The personal
“lens” of an observer prioritizes or dismisses details, mirroring
the limitations we bring to our understanding of our fellow human
beings. We may all “look” at the same thing, but we each “see”
something different.