Cover Ups

In this ongoing series of portraits, I am exploring the way we relate to people whose faces are "covered up" by their clothing or costume. There is tension as we strive to make eye contact but cannot. we search for clues to personality but, in the absence of facial expression to reveal character, we revert to stereotypes to assign identity.

Why are these figures so intimidating?
Do we interact or merely react?
If the body language is at odds with the clothing, to which do we relate?
How do we display or cover up our own identity in our interactions with the world?

Artropolis

Barbara Heller, 2001