Alienated Ambiguity

Hedley Roberts’ ‘non-portraits’, as the artist has referred to them, present a challenge to the viewer; they are after all of something. That ‘thing’ is generally figured as a person, either in the outline or in the title. The picture plane cropped close to the head often includes combinations of features such as eyes, mouths and some other basic paraphernalia; hats, glasses, hair coverings or beards. There is an identity implied by these features, and a clear effect (akin to encountering a stranger) in looking at the work where the glare of the strange ‘thing’ confronts or eschews the viewer’s own gaze.

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