Liz Kellinger

In 2008, I started a collaborative art project, entitled Reveal/Conceal. I began with a mass invitation to the public to submit photographic self-portraits exploring this theme. My invitation read: "It is tempting to portray yourself as you would like the world to see you...however, consider revealing who you really are. Reveal. Conceal. You decide." I distributed cards through the city that read “Who are you...really?” I set up photo booths so that people could take their own pictures.


The result was an influx of hundreds of photos, each with its own fascinating story. The final exhibition of the project included large-scale painted renditions of several of the submitted photos in my signature style...cropped and colored. In addition to the paintings, I also created a photo exhibit from the submitted self-portraits, in the form of two 8' x 14' photo "quilts".

Reveal/Conceal was an amazing experience for me. It started as an extremely personal and introspective journey, but then developed into something far larger than my own small self. For those who participated (whether or not they actually submitted photographs, a great many people went through the exercise of deciding how they would approach the theme), it became a venue to tell their own personal story and to discover, perhaps, their own journey.

So, self-realization became the real theme.

Reveal/Conceal opened in Richmond, Virginia in 2008. I plan to continue the project biennially, in different cities across the United States, with different photos and paintings.

Regarding my process: I start with photographs of my subjects. Lines are simplified based on the values of light and dark within and then are transferred to canvas. I fill in each color value, using a palette of eight to nine gradations of one color. I apply two coats of each layer to create opaque fields of color. Brush strokes are smoothed out, with the exception of raised borders that create a textural feel. The painting is then finished with a glossy overcoat.  Viewing the paintings is a multifaceted experience; there is an almost photo-realism to them from a distance, but as the viewer moves closer, the paintings become more abstract and textural.