portraitboxes

PORTRAIT BOXES
Suzanne Benton
I began creating Portrait Boxes in 1996 after
leading a series of mask and story workshops
with women and youth in Bosnia. The first,
Bosnian Boy evolved from pencil sketches I’d
done of the refugee children riddled with the
effects of war and dislocation. Having listened to
the haunting stories of the Bosnian people with
whom I was working, and from the cumulative
effects of all I have witnessed in the 29 countries
where I have worked as an artist. Bosnian Boy
and the Portrait Boxes since created are my way
of honoring the uniqueness of human life.
Portrait Boxes portray 21st century faces of
diverse people who pose and commission these
works. My process begins with preliminary
charcoal and pastel drawings before drawing and
painting the image onto the square or rectangle
of the open and sometimes closed paper box that
I’ve formed from layers of gessoed archival
paper. The ears, hair and neck wrap onto the
sides of the box, and its interior often contains
an inner portrait. The finished works relate to
ancient frescoes, Asian cave paintings, and the
Egyptian sarcophagi of the Roman period. Sizes
can range from 8”x8”x3” to 3’x3’x1.’