Studio Portrait

Studio Portrait was a process-driven performance enacted during a group exhibition at UBC’s BC Binning Studios in the Spring of 2006. The act of recreating a childhood portrait of Elizabeth, painted by her mother in 1986, stood at the center of the performance. A mother/daughter artist collaboration, the performance attempted to play with the relationship between the two artists—one an MFA student and the other a self-taught traditional painter.

An installation attempting to parallel the original mis en scene of the painting was reconstructed in the studio, enabling Tilly to paint her daughter from life. Elizabeth, dressed as a ballerina, rigidly held the pose of the former painting throughout the hours of the exhibition. While she was limited in her ability to interact with viewers, Tilly attempted to engage university faculty and members of the art community in casual conversation.