DENZEL WASHINGTON // 46x54” // 100% hand-cutout collage created from recycled magazines ✂️
“We leave for camp to Gettysburg College, August 15th, 7:29 am. If you show up at 7:30, you will not be playing football this season, you will be watching. You will wear a jacket and tie. If you don't have one, buy one. Can't afford one, borrow one from your old man. Don't have an old man, find a drunk, and trade for his. Cause I guarantee you, there ain't a bum on the street that looks as raggedy and ridiculous as what I'm looking at. This is no democracy. It is a dictatorship. I am the law. If you survive camp, you will be on the team. If... you survive.”
“Remember the Titans” was one of my first Denzel movie memories, especially that epic sit-down-shut up speech. It’s actually the perfect family movie to watch right now: thematic to this month and the prevalence of racial segregation coming to a crossroads in the 60s. Teaching invaluable lessons to people to this day, this cinematic gem underscores pragmatism over feelings, perseverance, tough love and a remarkable bond of brotherhood unprecedented up until that period in history.
•It’s hard to name my top favorite actor and actress but if I had to choose they would be Denzel Washington and Cate Blanchett. Denzel is one of those ppl who stares at you like you are the only one in the world—that’s what makes him such an exceptional actor. Like most of my portraits, he’ll be a one and done (especially if they are really difficult faces).
•What makes a face difficult for me is when they have a resemblance to others. For instance, it was hard not to make him look like OJ or Obama—I just want this to look like Denzel, not these other dudes even though he has this uncanny likeness to them. He has the most unique stare of confused, puppy dog eyes, mad, focused, sad—all rolled into one. I had to nail all these emotions in his eye, questioning myself along the way: is he furrowing or relaxing them? Is he just staring into the camera or is he staring into the camera man’s soul? That’s up to the viewer. Now, onto the next…..
