I’m wanting to develop my portraiture so I approached my friend Richard to see if i could draw him - he appeared to be fairly keen on the idea. I’ve been loving drawing on board, and wanted to see if I could scale up the process. I found a large plywood panel in the garage - so…. What resulted, was a portrait where I was happy with the likeness, but also a mindful experience of a formative time for my queer identity. I made the hand drawing to accompany the portrait - in response to a brief about sharing a lived experience of a time in queer history. Both pieces were accepted for an exhibition at the Assembly House Norwich to coincide with Norwich Pride.

Mixed media on Plywood
Portrait of Richard. Richard Sawdon Smith and I have a shared history of living through the HIV/AIDS crisis in London. To be able to draw his portrait shouldn't be a privilege. I would have many friends around today if it wasn't for inactivity from the government. The process of drawing this piece became about memory, loss, and resilience and the impact of HIV/AIDS on the LGBTQIA+ community. As we continue to fight against stigma around HIV status, racism, homophobia, transphobia and other systemic inequalities, we must prioritise those close to us to ensure their rights are being heard and fought for.

Hold tight

Mixed media on Plywood
A hand holding a red ribbon to represent lesbians who held the hands of gay men as they were dying, who marched on the streets, who partied hard in the nightclubs, who gave blood who continue to fight the stigma and hold on tightly to those who remain.

I saw this quote recently - and it rang true “if you claim to be someone's ally, but aren't being hit by stones being thrown at them, you aren't standing close enough." (Source unknown - attributed to several people)

Rest as a radical act

Very happy to be exhibiting at Raveningham again - I painted a series of deckchairs.

Rest brings nourishment and fires creativity. This series of works on deckchairs uses imagery of the body in repose; bodies abandoned in place, suspended from action. It connotes the way the mind’s activity is suspended in the act of relaxing.

I hope to have produced a continuing relationship between the various images as they are exposed to the elements. The fabric will change, but the deckchairs will provide a framework for images of rest. As they are ‘abandoned’ in the trees the deckchairs can’t be used; they are motionless frames for images of rest. Being placed in a circle, the works communicate, creating a conversation about the art of rest.

The piece captures the refusal enacted when we relax in a deckchair, resting and resisting the pressure to produce. Choosing instead to be restored and nourished.

Raveningham Sculpture Trail