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SULAI LOPEZ CONTACT

being seen

My Friend’s Place in a non profit resource center serving youth experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles California. I was fortunate to be part of this very special community for a decade as a volunteer teaching artist. This series of portraits was done over a year, visiting MFP once a week and sitting with a young person from the community, paying them for two hours of their time to model for me. There is an intimacy that comes with portrait work, opportunities for conversation and silence and two way staring contest. At the end of each session, I asked each participant the question, “Where are you going tonight?'“ and documented the answer on the drawing.

Being seen; portraits of Los Angeles's homeless youth population
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Christian James in a white V-neck T-shirt
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Dayva, with a beard, in a pink shirt
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Ada in a black and white shirt
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: CJ Richardson in a green beanie and a jacket
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Brian in a blue California T-shirt
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Adonnie Lee with her hair in a bun and a black cardigan
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Bambie with a red bow in her hair
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: AJ, drawn in shades of blue
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: a young man in glasses and a denim jacket
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Ashley in a white top
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Barbie with purple hair in a blue jacket
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: a man resting his chin on his hand, in a light jacket
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Clarence in a cap, headphones around his neck
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Claudia and Grace, a woman with red hair holding a small child
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Denise with her hair up, eyes closed
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Dono in a gray beanie and a black jacket
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Ela in a T-shirt that says Show me your kitties
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Ellen in profile with long braids
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Erica in a gray tank top
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Eze in a cap and a blue hoodie, hand to his mouth
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Gabriel in a cap and a dark sweatshirt
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Gabriel in a backward cap and a zip jacket
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Ginette in a dark hoodie, head bowed
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Gunner with long blond hair in a tank top
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Ian in a gray T-shirt and a white beanie
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Irania with long dark hair
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Kevin in a gray hoodie
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Kiara in a cap with long braids
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Lexus in a purple hoodie and a beanie
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Lonnie in a cap and a gray hoodie
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Lov with long locs and a chain necklace
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Luis in a black cap
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Lupita with long dark hair and a headband
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Manuel in a cap and a striped T-shirt
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Marcellus King smiling in a blue T-shirt
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Markel in a green hoodie
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Markey, with a beard, in a gray T-shirt
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Marlene in glasses and a Free Mind T-shirt
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Melvin in a black jacket
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Noey with a topknot and a purple jacket
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Cyclop with an eye patch and a studded denim vest
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Kevy with long blond hair and a green hat
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Nyree in a patterned top
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Paul with long hair in a green tank top
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Rayhan in a light jacket
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Stacy in a pink camisole
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: William in a black tank top
Oil pastel portrait from Being Seen: Yogi with curly hair in a blue jersey