RICHMOND ART GALLERY NEWS, Summer 1998

Joyce Woods: "New Portraits" September 10 - October 12, 1998, Richmond Art Gallery

"To capture something real and essential of the person", that is the attitude and approach of Woods when she paints portraits of her friends and colleagues. Working simple and direct, and only from live subjects she knows, Woods prefers to complete the "urgent translation of person into painted image" in one intense sitting of two to four hours.

Through her people studies, she explores and analyses individuals, families, and groups, sometimes documenting the evolution of her subjects over time. Painting diptich portraits of the same subject in the same scale, lightling, and point of view, but years apart, she communicates insights not only about the changes in her subject's physical appearance and style, but also about her own evolution as an artist and a friend of the subject.