10/12/2026
Artist Spotlight for The Portrait Show, curated by Robert Copelan: ⭐️Emily Goodyear⭐️
This exhibition brings together portraits created at different points throughout my artistic
practice. Although they were not conceived as a single series, each reflects my enduring
interest in people and in the subtle ways a face, posture, or interaction can suggest a much larger story.
I am drawn to portraiture because a person can never be fully captured by appearance alone. An expression may hold confidence and vulnerability at the same time. A direct gaze can feel intimate, guarded, or confrontational. Even an ordinary moment between two people can reveal something about connection, history, and the way we move through the world together.
My approach changes depending on the subject and the feeling I want the work to carry. Some portraits are built through transparent watercolor and restrained color, while others rely on saturated hues, layered marks, and the physical energy of acrylic and oil pastel.
Likeness gives me a place to begin, but emotional presence is ultimately what guides the work. My background in counseling and art therapy has deepened my curiosity about the inner lives of others, but I do not create these portraits to explain or define their subjects. I want each person to retain a sense of mystery and individuality.
The viewer is invited to pause, observe, and imagine what may exist beyond the moment depicted. Together, these works reflect years of returning to the human figure and the many ways I have learned to see it: through color, gesture, relationship, memory, and emotion.
