Details
There’s a long history of artists painting their friends and contemporaries, and this painting has connections to both. The subject is my friend, the painter Paul Puckett, photographed by another dear friend, the Swedish photographer Per-Anders Nilsson. Paul and P-A were invited to participate in the Artist-in-Residence program I initiated at Bristol Bay Lodge, and spent two lovely days on the coast of the Bering Sea, fishing, painting, and photographing the Negukthlik River in the expansive Togiak National Wildlife Refuge.
While Paul’s shadowed face is somewhat visible, I still consider this a use of Rückenfigur, as it draws the viewer into the scene and evokes a sense of mystery and reflection.
Painted on location in the Bristol Bay area of Alaska in summer 2025.
