Marisa Portolese’s work often explores the relationship between the fixed photographic portrait, her subject’s identities and narrative desire. Her explorations in contemporary portraiture concentrate on elucidating facets of human experiences in relation to psychological and physical environments, relating to larger themes concerning identity and spectatorship.
BELLE DE JOUR
It is with the project entitled ‘Belle de Jour’ that I began to work
specifically with women as my primary subjects. ‘Belle de Jour’, is a
survey of 30 large-scale colour photographs depicting women in various
states of undress, masquerading different roles. The portraits are
carefully orchestrated to present the viewer a world of girls who tease
the line of the voyeur. The actors have been choreographed to come
forth with a remarkable sense of their own sexual persona through
lascivious, subversive gestures and defiant expressions. These images
expose a budding female sexuality, and call into question an idealized
vision of femininity.
THE RECOGNITIONS
‘The Recognitions’ is a body of work which through narrative based
portraiture brings together a cast of characters immersed in their own
enigmatic situation and emotional landscape. The solitary figure in
each photograph offers a pensive gaze and subtle gesture that attempts
to reveal a psychological state or intimate moment. Through,
physiognomy and expression, each subject is depicted in their imagined
world, enacting their own quite drama, which has left them disturbingly
calm, and comfortably numb. These individuals are meant to heighten an
examination of personality and mental potentialities imbued through an
emotive atmosphere. 
BREATHLESS
The project entitled ‘Breathless’, proposes to reveal the fragile inner
sanctum of my protagonists, by creating images that dwell on
introspective poses that carry a disquieting emotional charge, and deal
with the fragility of the human psyche. I am interested in imagery that
is compelling in its vulnerability and that is imbued with the greatest
sensual, physical and psychological presence. The photographs in this
series comprise of portraits, still life and landscape probing a range
of corporal and cerebral experiences.
THE DANDY COLLECTION
Landscape, human gesture and the figure in nature are at the core of
the project entitled ‘The Dandy Collection’. This series of male
portraits is informed by the sublime aesthetics traditionally employed
by Romanticist painters, especially the work of Caspar David Friedrich.
Seascapes, ravines, forests, parks, and gardens are the backdrops used
to create life size images of posed lone male figures that gaze
intensely at us. These images also serve as vignettes illustrating
masculine behaviour and all its’ complexities. In an attempt to
understand how male identities are negotiated, I seek to challenge the
notion that men, masculinity, and male gender identity are homogenous
categories.
DREAM WEAVERS
The fragility of life in the context of narrative based work has been
the focus of my artistic practice in the last few years. ‘Dream
Weavers’ is a new photographic project whereby I explore the
multi-faceted emotional nature of family, focusing on issues relating
to identity, displacement and abandonment. The images are made up of
photographic staged vignettes of intimately autobiographical familial
observations, formally portrayed through the genre of the narrative
film still and portraiture. The photographs consist of composed scenes
that appear to seem real, but are reconstructions based on actual life
events and familial experiences. In other words, singular images
redolent with rich background stories of domestic life. The subjects
are directed to convey an escape from their surroundings by entering a
psychological territory, whereby they are reflecting upon past memories
and future desires. They are emotionally paralyzed from their
environments and disconnected from one another. This work is at times
about loss and the failure to connect and communicate. 
BIO
Upon graduating with an MFA degree from Concordia University in 2001, she has produced many photographic projects which have received critical acclaim, namely Belle de Jour (2002), The Recognitions (2004-05), Breathless (2007), and recently the Dandy Collection (2008). She has exhibited widely in Canada, Europe and the United States, notably in cities such as Berlin, New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, Montreal, Québec City, Toronto, Palermo and Bologna, Italy. In 2007, she was invited to participate in the prestigious international biennale of contemporary photography: Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal, whereby she presented work from her latest series of images ‘Fragile and Fierce’. She has also curated several exhibitions and has recently helped organize the McGill street project entitled ‘Inspirations’, a McCord Museum initiative. She is currently working on a documentary film on Italian immigration in Montreal, as well as a photographic and video project on the complex nature of family and community, focusing on issues relating to identity and displacement.
Alongside her exhibition record, critics have written about her work in publications such as Canadian Art, Border Crossings, Ciel Variable magazine, ETC Montreal, as well as other journals, magazines, newspapers and art books. In addition, Dazibao publications published a book of her photographs. She is the recipient of several awards and numerous grants from the Canada and Québec Arts Councils, as well as the DuMaurier Arts Foundation. Her work is part of private and public collections.