Personality Portraits
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In many ways, identity is at the heart of BoBae Kim’s Artist-in-Residence project. What began with some portraits drawn for a resident at posAbilities’ Rosemont House eventually evolved into the idea for her AiR project: a series of literal and abstract portraits of individuals she’s worked with that capture both their outward appearance and inner personality. At first glance, it’s easy enough to see the link between identity and a portrait series. However, for BoBae, the project is also about reclaiming her identity as an artist.
BoBae has long been interested in the arts. She grew up drawing characters, designed comics in high school, and later went on to study Animation, Art and Design. But years ago, she walked away from all that. “When I was making art, I don't think it was ever really mine,” she says. “It was always a channel to communicate with other people.” Art remained a part of her life, however, no matter what else she was doing. BoBae has been volunteering with persons with disabilities since she was 16 and has worked for posAbilities for the past ten years. In that time, she’s used her art skills in a variety of situations.
“I found that everywhere I went I was actually using it,” she says, “whether at day programs for events or when I used to volunteer at churches. I've been collecting, for the past ten years, photographs or journals, little pieces that I want to make into something.” posAbilities’ Artist-in-Residence program has been an opportunity to reconnect with art as a way of expressing herself. “It's definitely a journey for self-reflection as a person doing art,” she says. “I'm just starting to foster that relationship with art—accepting that so much of it is actually about myself.”
BoBae’s portrait project is also about her relationships with the people she’s drawing. Her subjects are individuals living in posAbilities’ residential homes, people she has come to know as a Support Worker. She begins the portrait process by taking photos to capture the person’s exterior. The photos serve as reference for her literal painted portraits.
For the abstract portraits, she tries to integrate her subject’s personality. For her portrait of Marty, who is an artist himself, she included elements of his favourite things: “He said his favourite colour was purple, so there's a lot of purple everywhere. I asked him what kind of imagery he liked. He said his favourite artwork was the Green Day American Idiot album cover. That's why I chose to use more rocker form than fine lines. And he's a very energetic person. Whenever he goes anywhere, he has this presence about him. I wanted to capture that energy.”
Integrating individuals’ favourite colours, hobbies, and other aspects of their personality in the abstract portraits achieves two things. One, the style of the piece communicates the person’s “vibes” and hopefully stirs emotions in the viewer. Two, it gives the individuals autonomy to choose how they are represented. In that way, they become participants and not just subjects. Another key part of her project is creating a self-portrait to be included in the series. “Having myself in there as an abstract piece was crucial,” she says. “I didn't want it to be, ‘This is how I judge you.’ I wanted it to be, ‘I see you. This is how I see me and this is how I see you.’”
There have been moments of artist growth and artistic challenges throughout the project. BoBae stretched herself by working with acrylics and completing her first acrylic piece since she was in high school. She’s struggled somewhat to manage her time—a situation made more difficult by the COVID-19 pandemic and the anxiety it’s caused. But each finished portrait is a step forward for BoBae as an artist and a gift to show each individual that she appreciates them.
She plans to eventually give away all the portraits—except her own abstract self-portrait. First, though, she hopes to display the portraits and add an engagement piece to the project. Initially, she envisioned an exhibition with a participation wall where people could draw or write stories about the portrait subjects. She wanted to invite their families, friends, and support workers to share favourite memories, and still hopes to find some way to bring people together.
“I'm looking forward to finishing this,” she says. “I want to gift it. I want to be there when people are seeing it. I don't know when the group engagement, sharing stories thing will happen, but I hope that it can happen some way.”