Circus

I am interested in the portrayal of hidden feeling and emotion — in the way a person can present a happy front while concealing deeper vulnerability beneath the surface. I am developing this theme with studies of figures wearing fancy dress, where costume becomes both play and disguise.

A parallel subject is that of circus performers, particularly clowns, whose make-up and dress are designed to entertain while simultaneously concealing their true identity. The drawing above is a study for a double portrait with one of the subjects stood upright and a clown suspended upside down. The inverted clown heightens the sense of ambiguity, disrupting any straightforward reading of the figures.

I am also drawn to the unfinished quality of the work. The facial features of the clown are more defined, while the other remains less resolved, adding to the mystery and obscuring the subjects further — a quiet suggestion of what is revealed, and what remains hidden.