‘Adored and Adorned” is series of photographic and mixed media meta-portraits made in collaboration between artists David Scheinmann and Harvey B-Brown.
‘We recognise that today the curated self-portrait as social media commodity has made portraiture part of the throw-away culture and in response to this we have been inspired to make a more considered portrait with layers of narrative. 'We want to enhance the value of identity and explore issues of personal iconography.’
Starting by taking photographs of people with whom they have a strong connection, the images are adorned using materials and techniques that tell a story about the person while playfully referring to familiar contemporary iconography. Photographic prints are transformed into three dimensions using paints, inks, collage and sculptural techniques and then further augmented with postproduction technology.
The resulting images are heightened “Meta-portraits”; and as such they are the transformation of the traditional photographic portrait, they are passionate and inspired constructed depictions.
This series has allowed Harvey and David both to draw on 25 years of creative output in the visual arts to realise our aspirations towards a both critical and enduring portrait style expressed in a visual language uniquely born from their collaboration.
