I've always been fascinated with faces. The unique facial structures, expressions, and slight miss imperfections, but as a whole the face is perfect. Exploring what makes the subject distinctly them visually is what I do in my work.

I'm like a photographer who brings out the model in his subjects, except that I focus on the imperfect beauties, centering them in the piece and enhancing or minimizing other parts. Bright colors help change that seemingly unattractive perspective. The colors usually evoke a way of seeing the different features in my pieces. I want to continue exploring people through their faces.

As the face is the visual indication of how the natural look of a person can be unique, in and of itself, but also it becomes absolutely non-replicable due to the effects of environment, life choices, and experiences. It is a lovely way to see how the world shapes and evolves us in different ways, not just mentally but also physically, in relation to that mentality of course.

It seems like this is the way I process the world. I'm using a similar perspective with my PhD research, except it is comparing the short and long term genetic changes that populations undergo in relation to their environment and their ability to explore other environments. I am trying to relate these genetic changes to their phenotypic expressions. I guess I am obsessed with the back-and-forth happenings between what surrounds us and what comes growing out  from us in an accepting response or in retaliation.

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Hana Kanee

portrait series I