The Other I
Natalie Hill
Alison Dickey
The Show
Alison Dickey:
“For decades as a film producer, I have collaborated with filmmakers to turn a concept into a reality. In recent years it’s been a liberating and intuitive process bringing my own ideas to life. I draw inspiration from the time I have spent pondering moving images and now capture a moment with paint - the immediacy of the human figure or face, an accidental movement or occasionally, an irresistible cultural phenomenon. For this show, I explored portraiture of one kind or another: the marvelous strangeness of our faces and mouths, people who wear glasses, villains from the news media cycle, infrared animal selfies, and lastly, a look at the presetnational awkwardness of high school yearbooks. Using a 1983 yearbook from the south side of Chicago, I reimagined these captured black and white moments in color inspired by Van Gogh’s color portrait of his mother, painted from a black and white image. I spent a lot of time observing these young men. Are teenagers so fascinating because they are emerging? Who is the “me” that I think I am? Who is the “me” that I do not yet know?”
Natalie Hill:
“As a producer, I’ve traveled the world, building and managing teams, creating and upholding the structures necessary to facilitate complex and entertaining ideas that become films, commercials, and music videos. But there is another ‘I’ - the secret photographer whose way of seeing is singular and personal. The photographs I capture mirror my interior world, a world viewed in reflection. I was fortunate to grow up on the island of Trinidad where art belongs to everyone and is the very essence of the island’s spirit. This aesthetic has shaped my vision. The world reverses with each photograph, conjuring a feeling of recognition and rebounding pause. Reflected in the beauty and pathos of people and faces, in stillness and movement, of nature, conflict, and the tension of the human condition, I see myself - the other ‘I’.”
Alison Dickey:
“For decades as a film producer, I have collaborated with filmmakers to turn a concept into a reality. In recent years it’s been a liberating and intuitive process bringing my own ideas to life. I draw inspiration from the time I have spent pondering moving images and now capture a moment with paint - the immediacy of the human figure or face, an accidental movement or occasionally, an irresistible cultural phenomenon. For this show, I explored portraiture of one kind or another: the marvelous strangeness of our faces and mouths, people who wear glasses, villains from the news media cycle, infrared animal selfies, and lastly, a look at the presetnational awkwardness of high school yearbooks. Using a 1983 yearbook from the south side of Chicago, I reimagined these captured black and white moments in color inspired by Van Gogh’s color portrait of his mother, painted from a black and white image. I spent a lot of time observing these young men. Are teenagers so fascinating because they are emerging? Who is the “me” that I think I am? Who is the “me” that I do not yet know?”
Natalie Hill:
“As a producer, I’ve traveled the world, building and managing teams, creating and upholding the structures necessary to facilitate complex and entertaining ideas that become films, commercials, and music videos. But there is another ‘I’ - the secret photographer whose way of seeing is singular and personal. The photographs I capture mirror my interior world, a world viewed in reflection. I was fortunate to grow up on the island of Trinidad where art belongs to everyone and is the very essence of the island’s spirit. This aesthetic has shaped my vision. The world reverses with each photograph, conjuring a feeling of recognition and rebounding pause. Reflected in the beauty and pathos of people and faces, in stillness and movement, of nature, conflict, and the tension of the human condition, I see myself - the other ‘I’.”
The Artist
Photography by Natalie Hill
Painting by Alison Dickey
Photography by Natalie Hill
Painting by Alison Dickey
Natalie Hill, “The Other ‘I’”, 2023.
Alison Dickey, “The Other ‘I’”, 2023.
Alison Dickey, “The Other ‘I’”, 2023.
Natalie Hill, 2023.
Alison Dickey, “The Other ‘I’”, 2023.