Whanganui Tylee Cottage resident artist needs two lookalikes

Look familiar? Artist Julia Holden needs someone who resembles Gottfried Lindauer's 'Portrait of Kate Sperrey' from the late 19th century.

An artist in Whanganui needs two people, each with a certain look about them.

Julia Holden is the Tylee Cottage artist-in-residence and she is searching for two volunteers who resemble the subjects of two famous paintings she is recreating.

They are: Gottfried Lindauer's Portrait of Kate Sperrey from the late 19th century and Edith Collier's The Spanish Woman painted circa 1920.

"I would like to work with people from the community," she said.

"There might even be someone related to the original characters ... the Lindauer portrait possibly, who knows."

She admitted she'd been keeping an eye out for people who might fit the bill while out in public places.

"Certainly for the Kate Sperrey portrait I would like to find somebody with her profile. It will help the portrait a lot because she's got quite a particular nose there hasn't she?

"The Spanish Woman has a fairly strong face but of course part of it will be how the paint is applied that has a kind of a sculptural effect. There's a lot of information in the way that Edith Collier painted the Spanish Woman ... I'll be working with that if not an exact replication, it'll just be that's a kind of guide. I'm really paying homage to the original portrait."

But, Holden won't just be painting on any old portrait. She'll be using the people she finds to paint on.

Holden thinks of the body as a canvas and paints directly on to the skin and (supplied) clothing of her models, creating a real-life recreation of a portrait.

Once the 'live portrait' is complete, Julia documents the process with photography.

The Sarjeant Gallery is helping Holden find the right models so if you would like to get involved or have a friend or family member you think could be a match, contact the Assistant Curator, Jessica Kidd, on phone 06 349 3279 or email jessica.kidd@sarjeant.org.nz.

Holden's residency at Tylee Cottage coincides with the 125th anniversary of women's suffrage in New Zealand and the exhibition 125: Celebrating Women from the Collection, which is on display at Sarjeant on the Quay.

In honour of this occasion Holden has selected several portraits from this show to recreate.