Wardell Milan

Milan has created collages and drawings that present the body as a site of both beauty and conflict. His drawings of fighters reference historic boxing matches that intersected with moments of racial upheaval, while disjointed images of women overlaid with flora and fauna recall the long tradition in art history of conflating femininity with nature. The present sheet belongs to a group of 'portraits' that are in fact composites of several people. Isolated on the lower half of the sheet, Isabelle appears disembodied, but Milan has invested her with a deep sense of humanity through her direct gaze and expressive features. Reminiscent of the work of Francis Bacon, whom Milan admires, the figure elicits pathos, but also discomfort.