JACOB FEIGE’s paintings are simultaneous frontal and profile views of an anonymous person with ambiguous traits. Each work begins with a schematic drawing of a face with two profiles, overtop of which lays a cast acrylic head, partially revealing the layers underneath through cut-outs. This work is part of an ongoing project exploring the individual self in a society that gives increasing agency to machines and software. It continues his interest in Byzantine icons and their corollaries in Modernist figurative painting, especially in portraits by Kazimir Malevich, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and Oskar Schlemmer.

Vermilion Monuments is a series of double-sided, free-standing paintings ranging in scale from small to large. On one side, Feige paints with vermilion red, a reference to the cover of J.G. Ballard’s science fiction short story collection Vermilion Sands. Both sides feature the same schematic portrait, an anonymous figure depicted from both a frontal and side view. On the reverse side, precise cut-outs are mounted over two central portraits, obscured by layers of vibrant color that enhance depth and create a dynamic interplay of dimension.

The Leaf People series have their modern parallels, especially in the universalized figures of Kazimir Malevich, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and Oskar Schlemmer. These artists explored the collective, often faceless figure in response to industrialized society, a concept that feels equally relevant in today’s digital culture, where algorithms amplify exaggerated, hyper-expressive portraits yet drive increasingly mechanical behavior. 

The Lovers series, seeks to provoke contemplation, inviting audiences to ponder questions about the ever-changing tendencies of relationships and companionship, without offering easy answers. The portrait layer sits atop a canvas painted with leaf tracings, each an individual, particular leaf. The portraits are distant strangers, but the leaves are varied and knowable. Color in the paintings is synthetic, distinct from skin tones and foliage in a space apart from nature.