Bekah Wilson has always loved watching people as they go about their mundane tasks, watching the subtle changes in their expressions. This love of people watching traveled with Bekah to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she earned a BFA in visual art with an emphasis in drawing. Combining her two passions, she has created many expressive portraits and figurative drawings that have won her awards such as the Windgate Art Scholarship and the Judith A. Wrappe Award. Now based in the same small town in south west Arkansas that she grew up in, Bekah Wilson continues her work, considering herself a professional people watcher.
About
I’ve always loved the act of people watching. I want to sit in a coffee shop and watch stories play out. The soft expressions of a couple in love. The sigh of the tired parent, trying to keep their toddler under control. The person nervously chewing their lip as they wait for someone.
Using pencil and charcoal, I want to capture those expressions, those moments, those stories. When setting up my models, I ask them how they are feeling. I get them talking about their day and their lives. I want them to drop their mask and show me how they’re really feeling. And then I draw the emotions on their faces, letting my own emotions come through in the expressive lines and shadows.
Emotions are the thing that unify us as people. Everyone feels. Sadness, anger, excitement, confusion, everyone knows what these feel like. I want people to look at my work and think “I’ve been there” “I can relate to that” and be reminded of a time when they felt that emotion. Be reminded that we are all human. And while we should celebrate our differences, it’s important to remember that, at the root of all of us, is emotion.