Facial expressions, feelings and communication

Autumn 2023

In the autumn I started to try out whether I could do something with charcoal drawings. From the beginning I used portrait photographs as a model. First of celebrities, later of unknown people with expressive faces. I didn't realise why until a few months later.

Our moods and feelings are practically written on our faces. The more intense the emotion, the more clearly it is reflected in the facial expression. But even very subtle nuances of the emotional state affect facial expressions. Perhaps only an expert can consciously recognize this, but unconsciously facial expressions are part of our communication. Without being able to influence it, people send signals out into the environment that others perceive. They assess others and their current mood based on this and, consciously or often unconsciously, make a judgment about the person they are talking to, their current state, and perhaps even about the person themselves. We even base our own actions on these facial messages. We turn away or approach someone, treat them with empathy or become cold, cautious or dismissive. How important this type of communication is became clear to me during a stay in a Parkinson's specialist clinic. Parkinson's patients in advanced stages not only lose the mobility of their arms and legs, etc., but also that of the muscles in their face. Facial expressions are missing, the face appears frozen, apathetic, uninterested, sometimes stupid. As bad as it is for those affected to no longer be able to express themselves through their face, the reaction that the lack of facial expressions triggers in others is often even worse. They are often treated as if they were uninterested, apathetic, or demented. But beneath the mask there is still a person with emotions, intellect, and interest in their surroundings.