At Home with Mary & Palmer Painting

I am interested in the narrative potential of portraiture and in the concept of the artist as an author or omniscient narrator who expresses a particularized vision of each subject. These paintings are subjective psychological portraits of specific people in their "˜natural habitats'. Most are family and friends known on an intimate level, and the subtext of those relationships informs the depictions, both consciously and unconsciously. Before beginning a painting, I pose and photograph the subjects, usually in their homes. These photos become the basis for the work, which takes on a character of its own as it develops. In my current series, the subjects' material surroundings reflect some aspect of personal desire or identity that is linked to the psychological underpinning of the portrait. Visually, the work is neither photorealistic nor grossly exaggerated, but exists somewhere between poles of fact and interpretation, realism and idiosyncrasy. By conveying a feeling for both the inner and outer lives of individuals through portraiture, I hope to access a deeper underlying current of relatable human experience.