Humans are social animals. Human beings find isolation very difficult to cope with. Several studies have even shown that when people have a choice between boredom and electric shock, they prefer shock. A person in isolation resorts to memories and imagination, but if the brain lacks external stimulation for too long, they begin to lose track of time, reality, the world “out there,” and their ability to remember life before isolation, or its end, gradually declines. The aim of this series is to create a record of this erosion by producing a series of 100 A5-size portraits, the installation of which will create a continuous grid of phantom personal relationships of varying “proximities” and “distances.”

I originally resorted to painting on the reverse side of the canvas due to a lack of canvases, but I think this form is beneficial for this cycle and captures the spirit of the times in which we are forced to look at many things “from the other side.” The black matte enhances the viewer’s sense of distance, and the gesso layer on the back of the canvas allows me to work with color in an atypical way.

The creation of this series of paintings was supported by a scholarship from public funds provided by the Fund for the Support of the Arts.