Rodney Kimbangu
Artist Statement
My fascination with the psychology of why humans behave the way they do and how these behaviors influence their actions fuels my desire to capture the particular characters of my portrait subjects. With this body of work, I depict people who I am intrigued to want to know better. I paint these individuals with intricate detail to represent the effort it takes to get to understand someone.
My portraits create a one-on-one human connection that is formed between the subjects and me. I show each person paused in thought, in their own inner world, to reveal them as vulnerable and graciously trusting. You see them not as someone self-consciously posing but instead as a person being looked on and studied.
While I am depicting other peoples' characters, I also painted myself in two different poses to provide a glimpse into my world, and to share in the experience of my subjects' vulnerability. I emphasize the tools of observation and execution: my art, my eyes, and my hands. I imply what drives my curiosity: my mind and my heart. These portraits are windows to my subjects' souls. As these paintings are exhibited, they act as reminders of the action of watching someone, that is why in one of the self-portraits, I am looking into the viewer's eyes.