Hypervigilance (2020)

 

Mixed Media on Canvas 1520mm x 1220mm

£3,200

 

I made this work a couple of years back just as Covid lockdown was starting. The title has a kind of double meaning as we were all being hyper vigilant during the covid pandemic but for someone who had faced an actual physical attack the title felt particularly relevant.

 

I met the model through a life drawing class and asked if I could paint her portrait. Next time I saw her she had clearly been beaten around the face. I don’t know by whom or why. It was her idea for me to paint her like this.

 

She took a selfie and sent it to me, and I made the painting from that image, I also got her permission to use the image in my show. I have received criticism for this type of image before, but honestly when I make a work like this it is to start a conversation, not to voice an opinion.

 

My work responds to life as it is being lived and for me the work seemed both relevant and necessary.