Today we see formulated images of people everywhere, they say something of the subject through physical appearance, expression, fashion, etc. Physical semiotics are something that each and every one of us have through no volition of our own, but through the need to survive in our society. What we are less familiar with is 'reading' and evaluating people by their emotional and spiritual state.I am exploring the portrait through the aura. Pop culture and pop science have given the general populous a brief understanding of what an aura is, we all know that a person's aura is a reading of their spiritual and emotional state, we know that colors are meant to signify different traits etc. Using this popular understanding along with more in-depth research I have created my portrait of a subject in my impression of their aura. I do not see their aura, but it is my portrait of it. To do this I have taken a base photographic image and used light painting to create the effect of visible aura and reveal my interpretation of these truths to the viewer.
A triangle is created with this effect as aura is translated by means of sensual blurs of color, and as in the experimentation of color field artists such as Marc Rothko, who understood that people experience emotional reactions to color. These portraits, that become landscapes of color, create in turn an emotional reaction in the viewer.
