Wendy Jean Hyde

Seeking commissions to paint a specific number of individual portraits and accomplishing this task through a full lunar cycle while keeping to a very regimented approach has layers of semblance towards chaos. This structured and well-planned mission might be seen as a containment for the unknown and because not one of these people commissioning has ever seen a sample portrait painting made by the artist; this is indeed a leap of faith.

The initial details are: find commissions; photograph the individuals for photo-notes as reference, and preparation of materials and supplies.

The number of commissions is 23. The number of portraits being painted is 29. Several portraits without commissions or photo-notes will be woven between those with.

Painting begins on November 25th and ends on December 24th, 2011. During each session, only a specific feature will be painted. For example, one day only 29 lips will be painted. The next day would be only 29 foreheads.

Upon ending each painting session, individual photographs will be taken of the portraits and these will be posted to the online blog “Portrait Surface Project”

Wendy Jean Hyde (born 1964) is a Boston – based interdisciplinary project artist. The process of her approach to a body of work is based on its original finite idea which then is impulsively examined and researched. During this phase of the work’s process, a means for implementation and discourse takes hold until a specific medium is then employed.

A graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (diploma 1989)
and 5th year graduate (2008)
Recipient of the SMFA Traveling Scholars Award, Wendy exhibited at the MFA, Boston in the Traveling Scholars Exhibition, 2010.