Ali Silverstein has been making portraits since before graduating high school—first as commissions for friends and family, now as an enduring through-line in her practice. Each portrait begins with a photograph, but the process is not about replication. It’s a reconstruction—fragments of color and shape pulled apart and reassembled through translucent layers of paint. 

Some portraits remain suspended just before recognition—nearly dissolving.  Others arrive at fuller clarity, always through slow accumulation: mark by mark, decision by decision. This process mirrors Silverstein’s larger practice, where meaning arises through interaction, layering, and the tension between control and intuition.

Rather than offering static likenesses, these portraits attend to something more elemental: the sense that a person is both singular and particulate—briefly gathered into form, always on the verge of becoming something else. The image feels both precise and in flux, catching the light at the moment just before it dissolves again. Silverstein captures not just appearance, but a timeless presence– momentarily made visible.

She continues to accept a limited number of portrait commissions each year. Inquiries are welcome.