Untitled No 6

LIV.2010.130.6

Information

Large photorealist portrait of a young Tibetan. Untitled No 6 is a very fine example of Tashi's practice, highlighting his hyper-realist style. When looking into the face of this young girl, his technique seems beyond hyper-realism the ripples in the skin making her seem fluid, only virtually real, almost ghost-like. Not only is Tashi’s work important in understanding the development of the younger artists now emerging out of Lhasa, but his work presents a new interpretation on the tradition of portraiture and whilst the sitter strongly holds the viewers gaze, it is also reminiscent of the colonial officer’s attempts at ethnographic photography. However, in Untitled No 6 the sitter is stripped of any object that may identify her as Tibetan, including her name. She is an individual first and foremost.