Visual Smalltalk: International Students

Visual Smalltalk: International Students is a series of oil paintings depicting a few of Endicott College’s international students. The lines of the familiar and the uncomfortable begin to cross in this series, inviting the viewer to imagine the life of somebody new. With no thread of similarities through the compositions in uniform lighting or similar subject placement, no two portraits are the same, just as no two people are. The connecting factor in all of these portraits are the people inside of them, both highlighting their differences, but leaving them connected to one another. Seeing inside of a stranger’s bedroom, a dorm room at that, the only place that acts as a reflection of a person’s personal interests and vulnerabilities allows you to get to know the person in the painting just a little bit, hence the name “Visual Smalltalk”. This subject matter and environment allows the viewer to temporarily feel out of place. The aim of this series is to de-mystify and deconstruct the veil of foreignism that the greater population of Endicott College shrouds our international population with and vice versa. To compliment this mission statement, my portraits also function as a celebration of the diversity that Endicott does have, regardless of how small those numbers may be, and a celebration of the person being painted and the intrepid souls they each possess for seeking an education in a country different from their home.