Shared Presence

While Sitting

A community-based portrait project exploring the people, stories and everyday life of East Auckland.

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Shared Presence

A Long-Term Community Portrait Project in East Auckland

Rooted in the communities of East Auckland, Shared Presence is a portrait project that grows through meeting local people and spending time together. Through drawing and observation, I hope to record something of the diverse lives, cultures, and everyday stories of the people who live here.

It begins with a simple encounter.

As part of the project, I hold short community drawing sessions around East Auckland. These 20-to-30-minute live portrait sketches are a chance to meet people, draw together, and see what happens. Whether you happen to come across a session or come along especially for it, anyone is welcome to take a seat, relax, and see yourself through an artist's eyes.

For me, drawing is a way to slow down and pay attention. It gives me the chance to spend time with people I might never have met otherwise. I've always been curious about people's everyday lives. What matters to them? What do they notice that I don't? What might I learn if we spent an afternoon together?

I honestly don't know.

And perhaps that's one of the reasons I keep drawing.

Some encounters remain a quick sketch and a shared moment. Others may lead somewhere further.

From Community Sketches to Portrait Studies

Sometimes, by chance, one of these encounters may lead to a longer portrait sitting as part of Shared Presence.

Anyone is welcome to take part. Come as you are, wear whatever feels like you, or dress up if that's more your style. Bring an object that holds meaning for you, if you'd like. Together we'll spend two to three hours while I draw your portrait, sharing conversation if it comes naturally—or simply enjoying the quiet.

During the sitting, I work mainly from direct observation. I may also take photographs as references for later work. The drawing made during our time together is part of the experience, but it may also become the starting point for something else.

Some sketches and photographs may develop into finished works. If that happens, I'll share the work with you, and I'd genuinely like to hear what you think.

Sometimes, a story ends there.
Other times, it might become the beginning of a studio portrait, and perhaps later an environmental portrait.
Let's see where they go.

Over time, I hope these individual portraits will come together and reveal something about Auckland—the people, stories, and everyday life that make up the city.

If the project eventually develops into an exhibition, everyone whose portrait is included will receive a copy of the exhibition catalogue and a high-quality print of their portrait as a thank you for taking part.

Before the project begins, I'll explain clearly what taking part involves and provide a consent form outlining how the drawings and photographs may be used. This way, you'll know what to expect before deciding whether you'd like to take part.

Thank you for taking the time to read about Shared Presence.
Perhaps our paths will cross one day.

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Celebrating Cultures Pop-Up

26 September – 10 October 2026 · Botany Town Centre

Celebrating Cultures Presented by Arts Out East

Shared Presence
at Celebrating Cultures Pop-Up
Part of the Performer & Facilitator Programme

Date: 9 October 2026
Time: 12:15 pm – 2:15 pm
Venue: Main Conservatory (Outside H&M), Botany Town Centre
Activity: Portrait drawing and cultural exchange
Facilitator: Qing Lin
Free · No Booking Required

Sit, meet, talk, and have your portrait drawn for free.Shared Presence includes relaxed portrait sessions where you can sit for a while, meet the artist, and have your portrait drawn if you’d like.Come along and spend a little time with us. Sit for a portrait, have a chat, watch the drawing take shape, or simply enjoy a quiet moment together.Everyone is welcome. There’s no pressure, no art experience needed, and nothing to prepare.The idea is simple: slow down, meet someone new, and share a little time together.If you enjoy the experience and like your portrait, you’re welcome to take it home with you.

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2026 — Live Portrait StudiesThese studies are developed through extended periods of live observation, with each sitting usually lasting between two and three hours. This slower pace allows each portrait to emerge gradually through sustained attention rather than quick impressions.

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From Observation to the StudioThese paintings were created before the Shared Presence project and represent the artist's earlier studio portrait practice. They are included as examples of how some observational studies may later be developed into studio portraits, with some of these later becoming larger environmental portraits.

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Garden Notes No.01
Garden Notes No.02
Garden Notes No.03
Garden Notes No.04
Shared Presence
Emergent Structures No.01
Emergent Structures No.02
Emergent Structures No.03
Emergent Structures No.04
Emergent Structures No.05

The photographs begin with observation, but they rarely end there.
I almost never get the photograph I thought I was taking.
What photography keeps and what it leaves out matter equally.
Black and white removes colour, light rearranges space, and the lens cuts away what lies beyond the frame.
I have come to depend on these omissions.
Some photographs become paintings. Some remain photographs.
I don’t decide that in advance.
They simply give me somewhere to begin again.

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Background PracticeShared Presence grows out of a longer painting practice. The following selection offers some background to that ongoing work.

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About Qing Lin

Qing Lin is a visual artist working across painting, drawing, and photography. He graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1993.Before focusing on contemporary painting and portrait-based projects, he worked extensively in illustration and visual communication. His works have been published in a range of Chinese cultural and literary publications, and he has created illustrations for internationally recognised literary works including Childhood, Resurrection, The True Story of Ah Q, The Old Man and the Sea, Hamlet, and Selected Poems of Pushkin.His painting works are held in the collection of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Selected works include Gathering at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (2010), Portrait of Giuseppe Verdi (2012), and commissioned portraits of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Anton Bruckner (2016).His current artistic practice explores portraiture, human connection, and the relationship between individuals and their surrounding environments. Through direct observation and long-term engagement, he uses painting and photography to explore how personal stories and shared experiences shape our understanding of place.Now based in Auckland, New Zealand, Qing Lin is developing the long-term portrait project Shared Presence, which explores encounters, belonging, and everyday connections within Auckland’s diverse communities.