Ilana McBain
Held Gaze
Registered Authenticity & Provenance
Each limited-edition canvas is recorded in the Ilana McBain Registry of Authenticity & Provenance and supplied with a signed Certificate of Authenticity identifying the artwork and its individual edition number.
The registry maintains a private record of provenance throughout the life of the work. If ownership changes in the future, the new collector can be registered with the Studio and an updated record of provenance issued.
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Held Gaze began with the idea of what happens when we really look at one another.
I have always been fascinated by faces — not because of perfect features, but because of the way a look can say so much before a word is spoken. Curiosity, caution, recognition, confidence, affection, distance — sometimes all at once.
In this work, the faces overlap and press into one another, each with a different expression and direction of gaze. Some look towards you, some past you, some towards each other. I liked the tension of that. It feels social, but also private.
The bold colour and simplified forms came naturally. I wanted this contemporary abstract figurative artwork to feel immediate and alive, with each face becoming part of a larger rhythm rather than standing alone.
For me, Held Gaze is about connection, but not necessarily an easy one. It is about that moment when someone really sees you — and you realise you are seeing them too.
There is something powerful in that exchange. No performance, no explanation. Just presence.
Dimension: 130 x 130 cm
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