Shelter in Place 2020 – Portrait Series

By Tom Sandonato

How it came about?

Well, like everyone else, whatever plans we had. . .to visit friends, travel near and far, attend a concert or a good friend’s wedding. . .were suddenly and dramatically put on hold. Life as we knew it. . .reimagined.

So, this was all going down in the spring of 2020 and I started to think about when I would get to see my friends and family again. Around the world, creativity is blossoming as people try to figure out how to stay somehow connected and safe at the same time. Meanwhile, my business, kitHAUS, was shut down — no fabrication, no installation — leaving plenty of opportunity to clean the shop, organize the office, sanitize our home. One day, while trying to organize the workshop, I came across scraps of poplar cut offs — 8” wedges — from a shelving system we had recently completed. Two wedges glued together made a perfect rectangle, begging to be repurposed.

I’m not sure when or how, but I decided that those wood blocks would hold the faces of those friends and family I was missing. First step: ask for a selfie. Like a passport photo — close up, with little or no expression.

With the photos in hand, I next had to figure out the best method and medium to transfer the faces onto my wood blocks. After some trial and error, I settled on colored pencil and marker. Poplar is a relatively clean wood, with subtle graining and color variation. Each block of wood had its own textural nuances, which translated into each portrait, for better or worse.

Each portrait took an average of 2 to 3 days to complete. I would trace, cut, draw, blend and sand each portrait for hours at a time, staring at the photo of the face I was working on. So, this was how I would get to spend quality time with my friends. . .and think about time spent. And time missed.

My background and garment color choice was calculated to somewhat correspond with the subject’s personality and style. Still, the panels needed one more element. . .one more accessory to help tell this story. Okay, I got it — the newest staple in all our daily wardrobes: a mask. Initially, I tried drawing them on two dimensionally, which I felt hid too much of the portrait. So instead I came up with an alternate 3D technique, cutting and shaping coffee filters as removable masks to reveal the underlying facial expressions.

The series started with 12 faces, but quickly grew to 30. As word spread amongst our friends, everyone started sending me their mug shots, whether I asked or not. The more the merrier!

I eventually ran out of wood and time, but with the large collection of portraits we thought it might be fun to attempt a little gathering to celebrate. We planned for fall opening reception, assuming we would be out of pandemic crisis by then. . . little did we know. So, with CDC guidelines and protocols in hand, we decided to hold the reception outside at the Barn, allowing for plenty of social distancing and ventilation. We even had the must-have of 2020: a live Zoom feed stream for all our virtual guests that couldn’t travel. Happy to report, the evening was a success and all who attended remained healthy and safe.