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Danielle Eubank. Paintings
A dog falls slowly asleep under the midday sun. Still, he holds the viewer with a beady eye suggesting his pleasure in this most human of luxuries is indeed a conscious one. An elderly man prepares to sit for his portrait. A strong light from the window emphasizes the careworn lines on his face. He turns away from the glare. In his dark fustian jacket lies the suggestion that such a bright sun is an unusual guest, as is the portrait-painter herself. The man is at home, but his anxious expression seeks the comfort of a familiar face in the shadows.
'Whether depicted in surface agitation or a deeper waxy calm, the seas are also portraits; studies of one of the most transient expressions of Earth.'
A steady but sympathetic eye informs all Eubank's work, which evokes a character study from every subject. Often it is simply sunlight itself that induces an expression, either concrete or metaphoric. This natural light source visibly affects the scene from one angle (such as the man's face creasing from the glare) while the artist captures the sitter's reaction from another. Their two perspectives are fused most harmoniously in the series of water studies. Whether depicted in surface agitation or a deeper waxy calm, the seas are also portraits; studies of one of
William
Moore the most transient expressions of Earth. Under the glass of their own skin, they invite exploration of their contours; eager to be mapped like any human face they may reflect, such as the artist's herself. Eubank does include a self-portrait in her oeuvre, and this is appropriate. It is large: fifty four by sixty six inches. She is laughing, (as are many of her sitters) and it is a relief to find her so: permanently enjoying a moment on the other side of the canvas. There is a celebration here, of art, of life, and of self.
Aguas Asturianas 02If the paintings of single subjects play with light, then the landscapes emphasize line. Noticeably looser than the portraits, the wry playfulness of the line delimits the object but simultaneously describes it. The result is a place that winks at the viewer from under a hot Mexican sun, or shimmies away shyly back along its own footpath. Mechanical cranes stand poised over an industrial plant like curious wildlife and the buildings of a South American town, dizzy in the heat, huddle together shambolically for their souvenir snapshot. Even Hampstead Heath trees gather for a tête à tête, one tilting an ankle with the same long elegance as the area's inhabitants.
All these works in their various mediums and techniques are an expression of character. And if good portraits are self-portraits, the best of Eubank's paintings are those that convey something of the irrepressible spirit that animates the artist herself.
© N. Santilli, 2003
