Though the tools were familiar — charcoal, erasers, paper — the scale of artist Michael Smith’s portraits also required the use his entire body. Often hopping up and down a ladder to reach parts of the 6-foot-tall portraits, “I was using a chunk of charcoal the size of my fist,” he said. Smith viewed it as a “kinetic form of drawing.”
“I’m drawn to faces that are very interesting for me.” A resident of the Hough neighborhood for the past 12 years, Smith wanted to honor his neighbors. “I was looking for people that we see every day in the downtown area, who are working on sustainability and improving the livability of our community.”
Smith’s work was part of a larger series of smaller portraits and paintings depicting the faces of downtown. It was the opportunity to take over the space of Vancouver Organization of Contemporary Art, 906 Harney St., that allowed Smith to literally expand his ideas. “I really appreciate the people that trusted me with their likenesses, it is striking to see yourself over 6 feet tall,” said Smith, especially because not all his subjects were comfortable with being redrawn as towering giants. Though they were much happier with Smith’s 2-foot portraits.
“The smaller portraits were powerful; I wanted to see what it would feel like if you monumentalize the pieces, how the viewing would change and how I would interact with them. You’re sucked into (the portraits), they encompass your whole perspective,” he said.
