Hold Still for the Picture (abridged)
Izzy Barrera ‘19
I often find it easiest to draw sleeping peo-
ple on the subway. There is never a shortage of them on the long ride home on the B train. I like to draw them because, unlike the other passengers, there is no danger of accidental eye contact; I’m free of the paranoia that they’ll realize that I’m staring at their nose, trying to get the angle right. Sleeping people are the perfect subjects in lots of ways. They are relaxed, open. They don’t move, and often have the most intriguing poses when they finally find the most comfortable way to sit in those orange and yellow slip ‘n’ slide seats. I’m not completely unfazed however, and I do sometimes feel conflicted when I draw them. For these people, this is a break from life in this chaotic city; they can blend in with the crowd, and take a break from being a parent or an employee or what have you. As I record the folds in their jackets, I can’t help but wonder who these people are that are willing to leave themselves so vulnerable in a people-watching palace like New York. In New York, eye contact reminds me of fencing. Planned glances and thrusts of perception made while the opponent is off guard. Miscalculate though, and they’ll catch your eye with a parry, and you’ll have
to retreat, pretending you were reading the CUNY advertisement behind their head. For the rest of the ride, you can’t look in that direction again, scared that you could slip up and double dip into their line of vision. In painting, because you are not limited to what’s in front of you, there’s so much more freedom to make engaging work. You can emphasize, over exaggerate, increase and embellish, or suppress, subdue, humble and restrain. On the subway that could be having a scarf that comes up to the lips instead coil up above the nose. A woman’s perfume tints the air around her a twirling pink. A child’s restless legs echoing in motion. A woman with two sets of arms because she can’t figure out if resting them on her purse is more comfortable that having them folded across her chest. When I sleep, you could at least make it so that my jaw hangs a little lower, a little freer. In a sense you are only taking with you what you can afford, only what you can carry, instead of stealing the moment.
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