"Over the last year, I have been driving my paintings in an innovative new direction that is really beginning to show who I want to become as an artist. After months of research and experimentation, I have found myself drawn to the age-old idea of portraiture, but with a twist: I am still intrigued by the idea of omitting the eyes in my paintings, something I started in my early work and have continued to carry with me as I evolve. I love the anonymity this creates for the viewer and the subject alike. People will leave the piece with different ideas and feelings and I like having that kind of flexibility in my work. My strongest inspirations are fashion and design, so I dove into the idea of creating portraits of stylized women disguised by avant-garde, floral-inspired hats. Body language becomes very important in my work because I don't rely on facial expression to convey emotion like most figurative artists do. Instead I rely on gesture, clothing, and color. The new pieces allow me to convey texture, design and abstraction with a freedom I have never known until now. I have fallen in love with the expression, mystery and disguise the pieces create. Costume has the ability to be empowering and beautiful, allowing us to become someone new. The nature of fashion is all about change and experimentation and I am thrilled to see where this will take me," - Anna Kincaide