Elle Goudis is a female artist who is based in Melbourne/Naarm. She is currently studying in her final year (2023) of a Bachelor of Fine Art at RMIT University with a specialisation in Painting. She explores the concept of portraiture and realism with the use of mainly oil paint and occasionally pencil. Elle enjoys capturing her subjects’ true emotions and subtleties. Her love for portraits makes her study how people show their feelings through their faces. She pays close attention to how light and darkness create interesting effects on their features. With great care, she makes her art so you can feel the smallest emotions and imagine the stories hidden in each look and shape. She gives her artwork life with each brush or pencil stroke. She wants you to have a direct, personal experience with the subject of her paintings. Elle’s passion for portraiture and realism continues to grow.
SELF-PORTRAITS 1 & 2: I’m focusing on creating two life-size portraits of myself for my work. This helps me comprehend how I might portray myself as I see myself, rather than as a viewer, as I don’t often paint myself. Determine which characteristics about myself stick out and whether they are true.
My studio, where I work, and my room at home, where I feel at ease, are the two places that are located in these paintings. This is also putting my abilities to work on much larger scales to the test, which is something I don’t typically do. I don’t exert myself as much because I’m used to painting on much smaller canvas scales. I was able to make the decision to test myself to paint a life-sized representation of myself after consulting with one of my fellow teachers. I thought this was an excellent idea because I don’t often paint the human body as I mainly focus on the portraiture side.
I usually create portraits of other people, but now I’ve turned around, using my artistic talent to paint a representation of myself. By using this strategy, I was able to explore all aspects of my own features and persona, which has proven to be a challenging task. We all see our reflection in the mirror throughout our everyday activities of life, yet it only lasts for a brief instant. We frequently fail to fully recognise that our features are what makes us, us. Those special traits that make us stand out from the crowd. It seems as though the comfort of our own image blinds us to the amazing details that make up our identity. However, when I paint myself, I have the chance to go on a profound journey of self-discovery and what makes me, me.
The spectators were more engaged with the work when I focused my portrait series from last semester on mirrors and what people do when they look in a mirror. But in this instance, for this semester, I’m concentrating on becoming involved and observing how others respond to and interact with me when they glance at me twice. The main goal while painting a life-size portrait is to represent the subject’s essence vividly and in great detail. In order to provide spectators with a fully complete experience, I can explore the subtleties of my subject’s appearance, feelings, and identity on such a massive scale. Choosing to emphasise realism, emotional depth, symbolic storytelling, or aesthetic beauty gives the portrait its distinct personality and function. The life-size format creates an intense bond between the subject and the viewer, prompting us to reflect on the human experience, identity, and the complex interplay of colours, lines, and shapes that make up the picture of our existence.
instagram: @e.goudis