‘I am attracted to the human “map” contained within a face,’ says Serbian artist Jelena Bulajic, ‘and the layers of its skin – a bodily margin that bridges the distance between the inner and the outer.’ Rendered on a monumental scale, Alise Lange exemplifies her richly detailed portraits of elderly subjects, capturing the wealth of beauty, soul and character contained in the human countenance. Every wrinkle, furrow and fold of skin is carefully studied and vividly realised; the subtleties of expression in the eyes and mouth, and even the glimpsed patterns and weaves of her clothing, convey an extraordinary depth of lived experience. The relative size of Bulajic’s works is important to her conception of the face as a border between interior and exterior realms. ‘I am trying to find a scale that demands a particular intimacy of proximity,’ she says, ‘and brings the viewer to an actual or illusional “kissing distance” to the face of the other depicted in the painting, or even acts as an invitation to touch the surface / skin of the painting.’ Bulajic was included in the 2014 BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery, and she has since exhibited widely in London and Serbia.