ELLIE DAMANT - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Master Arbitrator, 2013 - 14
This commission was completed to mark Dr. Ross's year as Master of the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators. It was presented at Mansion House in London in May, 2014, in the presence of the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Fiona Woolf.
Job Titles:
- Leading Publishing Director
- Publishing Director Penguin, Young Publisher of the Year
Leading publishing director Helen Conford has edited books from many great names including the celebrated Morrissey and also won Young Publisher of the Year. Helen is shown as the force behind all the books she has helped to realize as editor, bringing to life literature that is at the cutting edge of today.
This portrait celebrates the Mastership of Mr. Bennion OBE at the Worshipful Company of Lightmongers. The Master is in full regalia with his OBE, lit by a dramatic shaft of light representing the Worshipful Company he presides over. He sits in the Master's chair at Tallow Chandlers' Hall, the official home of the Lightmongers' Company.
The Worshipful Company of Lightmongers' motto: Dominus Illuminatio Mea Et Salus Mea, (The Lord Is My Light And My Help), appears three times: in the Master's Gold Badge, embroidered in gold and silk thread on the sleeve, and on the Master's chair. The composition is created by the artist's use of chiaroscuro, taking the eye through the shaft of light from the left firstly to the sitter's face, then to the badge, sleeve and chair, returning to the face in a circle. The artist uses her unique 3D hyperreal painting techniques to create an intense likeness of Mr Bennion whilst also revelling in depicting the intricacy of the different textures of his regalia, taking inspiration from techniques of Dutch Golden Age masters such as Willem Kalf and his late clair-obscure style. However, a refreshing contemporary directness is also created with the crispness of light and composition.