What Does It Mean to Feel Seen? Inside The Tracy Piper's SEEN Portrait Project
What does it mean to feel seen?
That is the question artist the Tracy Piper has been asking for the last five years through SEEN, an ongoing portrait and storytelling project that has grown into one of the most personal and community driven bodies of work we have featured on the Create Podcast.
In this episode, Tracy joins us to talk about how the project started, what it has taught her about belonging, and why she believes creativity has the power to bring people together rather than simply give them something to look at.
From a Question to a Project
Tracy's practice spans painting, murals, sculpture, installation, and participatory experiences, but SEEN began with something much simpler: a question she started asking herself and the people around her while becoming a mother. What does it mean to feel 110 percent seen? That question turned into interviews, then portraits, and eventually into a project that now includes over 250 participants and five published volumes.
Each year, fifty people answer the question in their own words. Their stories are collected alongside original portraits, building a growing archive of books, exhibitions, and community.
A Project Built on Access
One detail that stands out about SEEN is how it works. Participants choose themselves. There is no jury, no selection process, just an open call and first come, first served sign up. Tracy shares her own selfie with participants, spends about an hour painting each portrait, and reminds everyone that the only cost of participating is a willingness to be seen.
That accessibility is not incidental. It is central to what makes the project feel different from a typical gallery show, and it is a big part of why participants describe the experience as personal rather than performative.
Where SEEN Is Headed Next
This year marks a new chapter for the project. SEEN Volume 5 includes fifty new participants, bringing the total archive to over 250 people across five years, and it comes with a new book and exhibition launching this July at Art Tower in Portland, Oregon.
In our conversation, Tracy talks about what she has learned from five years of painting strangers, the surprising responses she has received along the way, and what she hopes people feel when they walk through the exhibition.
Listen to the Full Episode
You can listen to the full conversation with the Tracy Piper on the Create Podcast, available now on Libsyn, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts.
Connect with the Tracy Piper: Website: thetracypiper.com Instagram: @thetracypiper
