Tag: charcoal drawing

For more than two decades, Gala Gilan has developed a contemporary figurative painting practice that combines technical realism with emotional depth, quiet atmosphere, and thoughtful observation. Working primarily in oil, she uses light not simply to define form but to shape mood, memory, and the subtle emotional presence within each portrait. Rather than creating exact likenesses, Gala's paintings leave space for mystery, inviting viewers to bring their own experiences and interpretations into every work. Inspired by everyday moments, personal relationships, and the enduring language of realism, she explores how portraiture can…

Faye Johansen’s practice begins with attention to nature, to material, and to the quiet traces things leave behind. Working across watercolour, collage, and handmade journals, she builds surfaces that carry both process and place. At the centre of her work is a powerful series of one hundred charcoal portraits of Indigenous children, drawn onto discarded books layered with torn maps, music notation, and fragments of text. Each material holds meaning, speaking to displacement, memory, and loss, while charcoal allows the faces to remain both present and fragile. Alongside this, her journals…