“Partisan” is an ongoing series of paintings focusing on polarization and binary reasoning. They imagine a continuous de- and re-construction of identity and question, “Who am ‘I’ within an ever-shifting cultural context?” They comprise seven differing oil painting techniques, signifying polarized political consciousness through a restricted blue and red palette. Their titles reference cultural narratives, linguistic turns-of-phrase, and psychological habits. I vary the painting techniques to metaphorize the multilayered nature of personal history, drawing upon my lifelong experience of perceived racial ambiguity within the United States.

The techniques involved in these paintings begin with preparatory drawings sketched in charcoal using film stills for reference material, as a nod to contemporary American mythos. The drawing is then scanned, printed as a negative, and exposed onto a photosensitive silkscreen which provides an integral tool for creating the overall layered effect. An intentionally blurred portrait forms the base layer of the painting. The silkscreen is applied over the blurred image, creating a tension between the layers: one soft, one hard-edged. Parts of the portrait are reworked “realistically”, as needed, to emphasize an inferred psychology in the subject. Palette knifing is applied throughout the process, building atmosphere within the composition.
The majority of these paintings are oil on wood panel. Exceptions: Partisan (Popular Unconscious), and Partisan (Fortresses of Tautology), which are oil on copper.
Dimensions vary slightly between 30 x 20.5cm ( 12 x 8inches) and 30 x 20cm (11 3/4 x 9 7/8inches).
All paintings completed 2019 - 2025.

Partisan

Partisan (The Weight of Tales Untold)

Partisan (Fundamental Attribution Error)

Partisan (Simultaneity of Shared Experience)

Partisan (Our Coveted Superficial Narratives)

Technique

Details

Partisan

Ko Smith Studio