Mia Bergeron

In her expressive, photorealistic portraits, Mia Bergeron combines classical figuration with an idiosyncratic and gestural approach to the surface. Grounded in careful observation and draughtsmanship, her work tests the boundaries between abstraction and representation, seeking the moment just before a figure dissolves into its ground. Bergeron, who often represents the female form, says: “I find that portraying women feels as if I am holding a mirror to myself, painting my own gender as subject matter.” This preference lends her work an autobiographical quality, which is enhanced by the ambiguity of her gestures: the abstract smears, brushstrokes, and subtle disintegration of the figure suggest the merging of painter and sitter.