So many people, at a glance, call my collages paintings—far from it. I wish I had a brush but I’m a glutton for punishment and love the challenge of meticulously cutting and connecting pieces together that trick the eye into thinking I painted it. Some faces are harder than others when it comes to the restrictive-blending medium of collage, made from 100% hand cutouts, and Gisele Bundchen’s was up there as the most challenging. Since I free-hand draw all of my work, sometimes the facial outlines are off and I only realize it once I have collaged the whole face. So, I’ll do something I’ve dubbed “art plastic surgery” where I go back over the face and manipulate the features one millimeter up or down, you name it. This process is what defines a person’s unique look out of +7 billion people out there (no pressure!). It’s extremely tedious and can take hours. Some of that time is just me putting off the project—procrastination reigns supreme if you let it in the solo endeavor of being an artist. I often find myself going in the kitchen to make a sandwich (when I’m not hungry) then nervously eat and stare down perplexed at my piece. It’s like exercising your body but it’s your brain—and mine is fried after doing these portraits. It’s like my brain needs a massage, if that were a thing.
Sometimes I want to give up on a piece because there is so much art reconstruction “surgery” to do—especially with this one. But then I remembered the story of Gisele and how she started out in the world of modeling. She was rejected 42 times at 15years old. So I told myself I can’t give up on perfecting this portrait of her—because she didn’t give up on herself…..I’ll extract whatever motivators I can to get me to the finish line.
I think that’s part of the reason I create iconic faces: it’s less about their surface accomplishments and more about what lies beneath their beautiful iceberg of life success. It’s about how much blood, sweat and tears they poured out into their craft that the masses don’t see. Hence, I’ve found resilience to be more glamorous than the finished spectacle we make of all these stars…
Each one of us was born to fly, like a plane. So take more pride in the journey—the growing pains in this turbulent sky of life—not just your successful touchdowns (unless you’re those cute folks that clap on a plane once it hits the runway). #giselebundchen #voguemagazine #vogue #forbes #forbeswomen
