Hooded man by Raquel Reis
Explore Mondoir Studio
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 60 x 73 cm
Year: 2025
Price: $1100.00 USD
Status: available
"Hooded Man" emerged from a moment of quiet observation, a fleeting encounter on a winter subway ride that lingered in my thoughts. The man, wrapped in his own world, leaned slightly as if carrying the weight of his reflections. This posture resonated with me, echoing my own moments of introspection in my former studio in Madrid, where time seemed to stretch and contract in the rhythm of creative solitude. In capturing this figure, I was drawn to the red-and-yellow checkered garment. It wasn't a conscious nod to the Spanish flag, but rather an intuitive blend of memory and perception, weaving together the threads of my surroundings and inner landscapes. The bold patterns and muted tones create a dialogue between reality and imagination, a space where everyday encounters transform into deeper explorations of presence and attention. I hope viewers find a sense of quiet resonance in this piece, a reminder of the beauty in stillness and the stories that unfold in the most ordinary moments. May it inspire a pause, a moment to lean into one's own reflections and the subtle connections that shape our lives.
Why collect this work?
A face split by uneven contours and doubled features turns an observed commuter into a figure whose identity remains deliberately difficult to fix.
- Reis describes the painting as originating in a winter subway encounter and later memory. Her stated aim of reconstructing experience rather than describing reality helps explain the figure’s departures from naturalistic portraiture.
- In the photograph, the enlarged head tilts across the canvas while mismatched eyes, displaced brows, and an elongated nose interrupt facial symmetry. The checkered garment establishes a competing grid of red and yellow.
- Catalogued as oil on canvas, the medium permits opaque blocks, softened transitions, and overlaid marks. Here, those possibilities separate the garment’s hard pattern from the face’s more broken modelling.
- Dated 2025 and measuring 60 by 73 cm, the painting is a focused study of how fleeting observation can become pictorial distortion, testing the boundary between portrait, memory, and invented figure.
About the Artist
Raquel Reis
Raquel Reis is an artist on Mondoir Studio. Artistic discipline: painting. Based in Madrid, ES.
Nationality: Brazilian
My work is rooted in sensation, perception, and gesture.
