“Every square millimetre of my images is digitally manipulated. Not just the skin tones, but also the facial features themselves. In some cases I combined features from several faces to obtain what I had pictured in my mind's eye. Xteriors being the first project where I became serious about digital manipulation, it took me a good three years to finish all the images.”— Desiree Dolron
Dutch photographer Desiree Dolron’s most celebrated series, Xteriors, references the lush history of Flemish Golden-Age painting, most notably in the sense of mystery imbued in its portraiture and its reliance on atmospheric lighting. Using contemporary tools of digital technology, Dolron created a body of work that is both reflective of past traditions and innovative in its production. Set in an 18th-century mansion in Utrecht, the photographs that comprise Xteriors are digital constructions taken from a variety of sources. As seen in the current lot, Dolron’s use of digital manipulation is extensive yet subtle; obvious yet indiscernible. Manipulating faces, details and, most apparently, the dramatic lighting, Dolron uses photography as a means of realizing her otherworldly vision and, in doing so, intertwines the histories of painting and photography to create a striking tableau, defying the boundaries of both mediums.
2001-2006 Chromogenic print, face-mounted to Plexiglas. 68 3/4 x 48 1/8 in. (174.6 x 122.2 cm) Signed, titled, dated and numbered 6/8 in ink on the reverse of the flush-mount.
