All I could think was, I want to be this good. 

Rows upon rows upon countless rows of a young girl’s portrait lined the walls of the gallery. At first I thought they were prints of one hyper-realistic graphite drawing. Upon closer inspection, I realized there were minute differences between each one. Then I was even more impressed.

The artist of Drawing and Painting TIME is Fr. Martin Lam Nguyen, a Vietnamese-born priest of the Holy Cross religious order. He is currently a professor at Notre Dame. The exhibition includes two main bodies of work–the first being numerous rows of individual graphite drawings, while the other is comprised of 3 large white panels, adorned with rows of painted portraits. The style and method of display is similar in both and uniform within each work. The paintings, however, showcase a different individual in each portrait, rather than the same girl (in the drawings). Here we find greater diversity–gender, age, race, ethnicity, and pose all range widely in these panels.  While the drawings are just gray / black shades of graphite on warm-white rough sheets of bristol, colors range wildly in the paintings, to fit each uniquely individual portrait. A circle outlines each portrait in the paintings, so that each figure is given equal visual weight. Horizontal lines are spaced evenly throughout to further guarantee equality. The placement of the girl’s portrait on each individual sheet of paper in the drawings is uniform as well. The individual portraits contain space in the planes of their faces, but they are not placed in an environment with a clear fore-, middle-, or  background.

To me, the work overall is largely representative. I easily identified with most everything I saw–it made me feel as though I was looking out at a crowd of people moving in different directions at different times. Because of its small size, I felt compelled to go nearer the artwork, spending several minutes closely engaged with each individual portrait. The common elements of horizontal line, circles, and small-scale portraiture adds unity, while the different people painted for each individual portrait add variety. The solid white background serves as a backdrop that allows the portraits to stand out. There is an interesting contrast created here.

The paintings and drawings are about capturing time in a single portrait. Nguyen mentioned how today we take more photos on our smartphones in a single day than there were photographs taken in the entire 19th century. I feel a bit nostalgic looking at the piece, the painted portraits remind me a bit of the Norman Rockwell paintings I saw as a child. The young girl drawn over and over appears to be of Asian descent, like the artist. I can’t help but wonder if he knows this girl–perhaps a niece or a friend’s daughter. It almost seems as though these portraits serve as a way of capturing precious moments of fleeting youth.

My first impression changed upon spending further time with the works. As I touched upon in the very beginning, I originally thought the two bodies of work were interesting because portraits had been repeated over 1,000 times. When I drew closer to the portraits, however, and realized that each was a different drawing / painting, I found myself in awe. I believe this was a successful artwork because I had a definite emotional reaction to seeing the work. I found myself holding my breath. It is unique in its use of portraits. The portraits themselves are expertly rendered, but nothing new. What is interesting here is how Nguyen repeated this type of portraiture over and over and over again, over 1,000 times, to create something overwhelming. I believe this to be an accurate depiction of the artist’s skill, without a doubt. The craft here is excellent, and the style of painting / drawing is uniform throughout. I would like to possess this level of talent one day, with enough daily practice. The whole work felt overwhelmingly human to me– like looking out into a sea of faces. Without knowing the lives behind these faces, and seeing these strangers all held in equal regard, makes me feel connected to the work. I felt so comfortable in front of so many human faces. The artwork was incredibly well planned–I saw that each painted portrait displayed the year in which it was rendered — some dated back to ’95, the year I was born. You could’ve told me Nguyen had made all 3 panels this year and I’d believe you because they clearly all belong together. There was nothing half-done about any of it. If I had the space, I would no doubt purchase and hang these 3 panels in my apartment. They are absolutely gorgeous and so universal. After careful note of his brushstrokes, and the way he drew hair on the portraits, I feel like I’ve gained a small insight into creating better portraiture myself. I felt compelled to go home and draw the likeness of my roommate and her boyfriend, who were eating dinner at the time. Overall, I felt inspired to create and to keep patience in mind — this artist spent 20 years on a single body of work (and with an incredible result), so I’m feeling more encouraged to take my time with my own art.