Painter
Igor Moritz, "Kuba", Coloured Pencil on oil primed paper, 56 x 43 cm, 2021; "Jessica's Scarf", Oil on Linen, 140 x 90 cm , 2021; "Charlie drinking black tea in the studio", Coloured Pencil on oil primed paper, 56 x 43 cm, 2021; "Juliette", oil on linen, 40 x 30 cm, 2021; "April", Oil on Linen, 51 x 40,5 cm, 2021; "Eliora", oil on linen, 200 x 130 cm, 2021.
Q: Is a portrait automatically a judgment?
A: I dont think a good depiction of a person should ever cast any judgments on them. The artist isn't some egyptian God with a feather in one hand and a scale in the other, weighing the sitter's soul. What a good portrait can attempt to do is, through a non moralistic experience of the superficial, give a little insight into their complex inner world.
Q: Should a portrait always have a function?
A: I think the unavoidable function of a Portrait is that it gives you undisturbed time with another human. Time, undisturbed by reality. You get to look at a person who will never change, age, or die. Life makes it difficult to ever really experience the moment, especially with another human. Painting, and in this case portraiture, can grasp that time.
Q: During the portrayal process, are you ever concerned with what the subject will think of it?
A: I tend to be worried if they will be offended, especially if my final portrayal of them is a lot less flattering than reality. However, if the depiction holds its own ground, it stays no matter whether anyone thinks they look good in it or not.
Q: Should a portrait be timeless, or should it have everything in it to be dated in the long run, and therefore just testify to the 'here and now'?
A: Ideally it would be both at the same time. However, it is much more of a give and take situation. I like the idea that a painting can give a glimpse into a specific time, our fashion, interiors, architecture; our experience. But the danger with that, is that it can prevent people of the future from identifying with these images, as they slowly begin to look like historical artefacts. It can be harder to imagine a man in a 16th century cavalier hat being worried about tomorrow.
Q: Could you describe your least successful portrait?