Portraits



The Portraits series examines how presence is constructed through time, memory, and representation. Each work moves from encounter to photograph to painting, introducing distance between experience and image. A limited palette reduces the image to tonal variation, where likeness emerges gradually rather than through description.




Stefan
In the Company Of
2026
Oil on canvas
45 × 50 cm


The project began with Gray Period (2011–2013), a series of paintings depicting elderly family members in Italy. These works established an early framework: fixed distance, muted palette, and a focus on stillness and time.

This inquiry continues in In the Company Of, an ongoing body of work that expands portraiture beyond representation—treating each image as an encounter structured by space, duration, and proximity




In the Company Of Oil on canvas
2026 -

In the Company Of focuses on portraits of family members, developed through sustained proximity prior to making the work.

Each painting begins with time spent together, followed by a photograph and later a reconstruction in paint. Moving across these stages—the person, the photograph, and the painting—the image becomes a translation rather than a document, holding a tension between presence and distance.

Scale is not fixed, allowing each work to respond to the conditions of encounter. A restrained, desaturated palette is maintained, reducing the image to tonal variation and holding the figure at a distance, as if recalled from memory rather than observed directly.

The series centers on my immediate family, but is introduced through a portrait of Jim Carrey. Positioned at the entrance, this work establishes a framework of performed identity and internal presence, setting up the tension that unfolds across the series.

Across the works, the image is gradually constructed through layering and removal. Each painting becomes an attempt to reconstruct a person beyond their image—through memory, observation, and the slow accumulation of paint.



Jim Carrey—known for his exploration of persona and performance, and referencing his book Memoirs and Misinformation
is positioned at the entrance of the installation, establishing a framework that foregrounds the tension between performed identity and internal presence.

    

Jim
In the Company Of
2026
Oil on canvas
30 x 40cm 





Ongoing — further works available upon request.









Grey Period (2011 - 2013)Oil on canvas
Grey Period explores themes of mortality, isolation, and emotional vulnerability through somber portraits of older figures. Created during a difficult time marked by personal loss, the works reflect on death, loneliness, and the fragility of life. Influenced by Renaissance painting and techniques such as verdaccio, the series connects personal experience with broader art historical traditions, inviting viewers to confront mortality and live more authentically.



Dina
Oil on canvas
40” x 48” 
2012





                                         

Maria
Oil on canvas
38 x 48”
2012







Theresina
Oil on canvas
40 x 48”
2012






Pierina and Luisa
Oil on canvas
42 x 54”
2012
     
 




Osvaldo
Oil on canvas
30 x 44”
2012




Flora
Oil on canvas
34 x 40”
2012
     



Igidia
Oil on canvas
30 x 36”
2012



 
Giovanni
Oil on canvas
42 x 48”
2012





Maria
Oil on canvas
32 x 44”
2012



Bruno
Oil on canvas
38 x 44”
2012





Carmelitta
Oil on canvas
30 x 36”
2012







* Restriced access
© Jenna Basso Pietrobon

France — Italy