John Gelsthorp

One Million Nudes

Detail from ‘One Million Nudes #9’ – 2002

I understand they are all based on one initial image. But who is it?
That is not an interesting question. The real question is how can it be ‘a who’? Meaning, how can all this be one image or a person? Every drop of personality has been wrung out. Completely. The process was brutal! And yet each of the sibling images appears unique. There seems to be an underlying principle at work, something almost magical. What is it? Now that is the real interesting question.