Portraits & Selfies

2015 - 2020

My social identity - as a disabled woman - came later in life, and it reduced me in some people's
eyes to child status...an identity I resist but I try to draw attention to in my childlike portraits of
figures or faces.

I drew confidence from Tschabalala Self's large portraits exploring her identity as a black woman
through mainly big paintings, collage and 'assemblage' (using textiles like some of my Mask Me
series below). Her portraits are economical and sparse and seem childlike, faces indicated by
symbols (eyes, nose, mouth) rather than lifelike. By paring down my portraits and self-portraits into
simple shapes I want to show how people's complex identity gets simplified, and to set up a
tension in the viewer between the childlike form and the adult themes.

Selfie with Tongue Out

2020

Acrylic on Paper

50cm x 39cm

Ugly Sister (self portrait)

2020

Acrylic on Paper

51cm x 48cm

The Baldies

2020

Acrylic Collage on Black Card

50cm x 43cm

Grace II

I’ve always enjoyed Gerhardt Richter’s overpainting of ‘found’ photographs so while I was experimenting with masks I tried these - masking out parts of the face draws attention to the parts remaining with often uncanny effect.

See the Overpainting series here