B E N D A L L A S - P R O J E C T S| B E N D A L L A S - P R O J E C T S |
P O S T H U M O U S P O R T R A I T |
 MS. DANIEL |
 MR. KRONQUIST |
 MR. GUANCI |
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P O S T H U M O U S P O R T R A I T P R O J E C T : I began this project in 2002 after having put it on hold for twelve years. It was planned in 1989 when I produced a series of cremated cat pictures - small stenciled representations of kitties on paper using cat ashes as pigment. I was interested in the tradition of picture making and how subjects in painting result from illusion when paint disappears so that something identifiable and false can be communicated. At that time I got the idea to do something similar with human remains. I've long been devoted to making mostly self referential objects and multiple unit combinations intended to accomplish "presence" more than offering formalistic puzzles solved by intellectual art analysis. This revived project has given me the opportunity to establish even stronger content through non-objective imagery. It offers the possibility of making images without recognizable subjects acting powerfully as "portraiture" or "memorials" - something looking like painting that speaks very strongly of generalized humanness. For me, the contextual focus for the work has always been art, not death and all the stuff associated with the domain of cremation, but the process of completing just three paintings has extended my understanding of the project's possibilities. Witnessing the personal attachment existing in people for the material they possess and sharing the emotional shifts that have accompanied their decisions to participate, or not, in the process of forming their loved one's ashes into art has continuously altered my concept of what I'm doing. -BEN DALLAS |
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© BEN DALLAS/ART |