For her new series, “Through Many Eyes: A Study in Extrospective Portraiture,” at M2 Gallery, Aimi Dunn invited guests for a photo shoot and attempted to accurately capture each model’s personality. Using the photos as guides, she freehanded each portrait in acrylic. Dunn’s portraits aren’t meant to be flattering; she’s going for something more intimate and maybe even editorial. Disco Volante, an ironic portrait of a rocker kid with long, curly red hair, wearing a black T-shirt bearing the image of a clown, seems to comment on adolescence. The image’s confining border acts as a “label” kids assign each other (and this kid doesn’t look happy about it). Jasmine, on the other hand, reflects a combination of poise and mysticism. It’s almost sci-fi: The female model looks as if she’s arriving (or departing) through the watery event horizon of a wormhole. It’s metaphorical portraiture.

Wednesdays-Sundays. Starts: Oct. 3. Continues through Oct. 28, 2007

This article appears in Oct 4-10, 2007.