Woman with her hand on her chest by Raquel Reis
Explore Mondoir Studio
Medium: Watercolor pencil
Dimensions: 29 x 42 cm
Year: 2023
Price: $500.00 USD
Status: available
I created “Woman with her hand on her chest” as a quiet moment of return, the instant when we pause, listen inward, and acknowledge what we are feeling before words can shape it. Her gesture is both protective and reassuring, as though she is reminding herself that beneath uncertainty, something steady remains. I chose expression over realism, allowing the face to hold several emotions at once. Her sideways gaze suggests a thought still unfolding, while the asymmetry of her features reflects the complexity of inner life. Blues and lilacs surround her with calm, but touches of red, yellow, and green bring warmth and tension to the surface. Using Caran D’Ach watercolor pencils, I layered and blended the marks so that light and shadow feel fluid, almost like emotions moving through the body. The visible lines preserve a sense of immediacy and vulnerability. I hope this work offers viewers permission to slow down and meet themselves with tenderness. I want her hand to feel like an invitation: breathe, notice, and trust the quiet knowledge held within your own heart.
Why collect this work?
The enlarged hand and divided face make self-touch the picture’s organizing event, while the sideways gaze prevents the gesture from settling into simple reassurance.
- Reis describes her figuration as emotional translation rather than description. In this work, that aim helps explain why bodily gesture and facial construction matter more than anatomical likeness.
- The photograph shows a long green-yellow nose splitting unequal facial planes, eyes directed to one side, and a pale hand spread across the chest. Dense blue strokes compress the space around the head, sharpening the figure’s inward focus.
- Catalogued as watercolor pencil on paper, the medium allows drawn contours and softened color to coexist. Here, separate hatched marks remain visible beside more blended passages, so the image shifts between graphic structure and tonal modelling.
- Made in 2023 at 29 by 42 cm, the work provides a focused case for comparing likeness-based portraiture with figuration in which gaze, asymmetry, and touch carry the interpretive weight.
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.
