"Jennifer Anderson combines clear-eyed examination with
formidable illusionist skill, producing sensitive, haunting portraits. Within
tightly-cropped compositions, illuminated by unsparing mid-winter light, she
conveys the real, weighty physicality of her subjects while at the same time
hinting at the inaccessibility of their inner lives. Anderson's subjects seem
to balance their own reserve, their self-sufficient presence, against the
artist's sustained scrutiny. Surfaces - a creased white shirt, scraped-back
jet-black hair, or the slope of a cheek bone - are described fluently, the
restrained palette emphasizing subtle tonal shifts. These haunting images
explore the limits of what we can learn from observation - even observation of
those whom we see often and know well - something which gives Anderson's work a
universal quality transcending most individual portraiture."
Bunny Smedley, critic and historian
Inaccessibility. Yes - that resonated. Thanks
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