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11“ x 14“ acrylic on canvas board
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Rafaela and Heriberto
A friend of mine asked me to paint a portrait of her mother and uncle. When she text me the picture, I asked her what year was this portrait painted. She seemed shocked that I knew that it wasn’t a faded photo.
She replied that it was sometime in the 1960s. It has been their first image together since their arrival to America from Santo Domingo. I also noticed a significant age difference between them.
She seemed to be a serious yet a hip teenager aware of the latest trends, while her brother looks dissatisfied to be taking the picture. He has this typical adolescent, “I don’t want to sit here” look on his face. Which is very funny and I wanted to capture it in this portrait.
I don’t know much about them. But I can just imagine the stories they might have had. Can you imagine being a young yet serious teen girl or an elementary school age, rambunctious boy (don’t ask, I just see in his eyes....... HA! ). Moving from the Dominican Republic, called home for most of your short life to the United States of America, a new home and adjusting to a whole new culture, language, and environment. I am certain that their stories contain happy as well as painful memories.........
This project was very important to me because there’s a strong sense of family history in this image. I wanted to capture their essence, their strong sibling bond, hopefully to start or continue a conversation that usually goes from one generation to the next. This is why portraits, in general, are important. It's the connection from one generation to the next. It’s a start of a good dialogue. Portraits can also be a wonderful gift for the family. When the portrait was completed, my client/friend, loved it! I just hope her family enjoyed it as well.
* I would often stand in someone else shoes to gain an understanding of their perspective, regardless of their different race, culture, or religion.
We are living in a divisive climate now, which is filled with racially charged rhetoric! If we connect as humans, we will find out that we are more alike than different. Go figure!
