The premise for this series of paintings is to show the beauty of the diversity we see throughout humanity.  I wanted to include a large number of portraits, because, to be honest, humankind is so vast, so varied, that to paint just a few would give nowhere near the true representation of that diversity.  Having said that, I feel like I have only just skimmed the surface with the 43 I have painted. 

Without numbering and reducing people to labels, I have tried to include a good cross-section of people types and cultures.  As well as the wide genetic differences, I have also tried to compile images showing the depth of character amongst humans.  People are involved in a huge assortment of experiences, and react to them according to their culture, upbringing, beliefs, personality and conditioning.  I have tried to portray expressions of those differing emotions and of the character behind them within these many representations.

I have deliberately not included children in this series.  In general, people are protected from fully experiencing the world by their loving families until they of an age where they can handle what they see.  The full expression of their personalities has not developed, and they have yet to discover their own identities.  Those wonderful years will be explored in another series down the track of my artistic journey.

Limited by my hand, I have, however, attempted to capture the dignity and depth of human expression and experience.  The journey into adulthood begins with adolescence, depicted in “Out of Wonderland”, where we see a young girl, stepping, wide-eyed, out of the tunnel of childhood, confident, but unaware and unprepared for the many challenges which lay ahead of her.  We connect with the flirtatious laughter of “Milkshake Me Up Some Fun”, and the freedom of spirit in “Fountain of Youth”.  We embrace the stoic faith of “Heart of Devotion”, bask in the quiet meditation of “Namaste”.  We marvel at the beauty in “Treasure of the Orient”, and the opulence of “The Bloom of Woman’s Radiance”.

But life is not all ease and loveliness.  There are struggles along the way also, and this series embraces those too, for struggle is more important to us than comfort.  In “Behind Whitewashed Walls”, we empathise with the deep yearning of the young woman.  We ache at the inner torture of “Contortions of the Mind”, and “Burn”.  We linger over the penetrating, soulful gaze of the man, full of stories, in “Windows of the Soul”, and we wonder what silent screams lay behind “Eye of the Storm”. 

With age comes a whole new set of experiences and challenges.  It teaches us to value different things.  We squirm under the examining eye of the man in “Upon Closer Inspection”.  The wisdom that comes with age is honoured in “The Matriarch”.  Tired resignation is recognised in “The Lethargy of Twilight”, and the depth of the human spirit, beyond youth and strength and vitality is valued in “Grey Matters”.

My desire, with this series, is that I will communicate what the worth is of Being Human.  The assemblage of our years of experiences.  The depth of humanity is so wonderful.  There is no judgement here.  No separation.  We are all living with the same ingredients, just mixed together in unique ways.  It is that uniqueness that makes us singular, that sameness that makes us one.  My hope is that we will all learn to look a little closer at the portraits we come across every day.  Those which pass us in the streets, which serve us in the supermarkets, those which go home to different stories than ours.  They are all valuable.  We are all Being Humans.