Sinead O’Connor – Winter Portrait No. 1
As an artist and spiritual seeker, I sometimes identify with people’s suffering. For whatever reasons, I identify with Sinead O’Connor (better known to her fellow Muslims as Shuhada’ Sadaqat).
I think of winter as a peaceful time, a time of renewal — and who doesn’t know Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” which seems so lovely, but is oft interpreted as a brush with death, a close call. Suicide.
I’ve been making some portraits of Sinead. Sometimes I imagine her in a peaceful place, surrounded by the beauty of deep winter. Have you ever searched someone’s face for a long time, striving to understand its meaning, the journey they’ve been on, the person behind the face?
In the process of making portraits, I searched Sinead’s face for a long time. And I asked myself, “What would her face be like idealized, healed of all the anger she carried with her much of her life, and healed of the suffering?
So I used “poetic license” to show a Sinead that doesn’t look like Sinead, a Sinead that might not even exist, or at least a Sinead that nobody saw.
Sinead O’Connor – Winter Portrait No. 2
In order not to be accused of sugar-coating her death, I also made portraits showing the angular, angry, battle-scarred face of the pop idol.
Sinead O’Connor – Portrait No. 3
Plus some interpretations based on 20th century abstract art and sculpture.
Sinead O’Connor – Abstract Portrait No. 1
Sinead O’Connor – Abstract Sculpture No. 1
My problem now is that I’ve grown too close to them, and can’t curate them properly. So the full “virtual exhibit” will have to wait.
Most people knew her as Sinead, so that’s what I call her. But I honour and respect that toward the end of her life her name was Shuhada’ Sadaqat.
Portrait of Shuhada’ Sadaqat No. 1
Michael Howard
Standard Disclaimer: All images are meant respectfully, and are in keeping with general principles concerning creative transformation, fair use, and fan art. None of these images should be construed as being disrespectful to any person, living or dead, or to any religion, sect, nation, or community. The author intends no such offense.
Ethics and Spirituality 