As we grieved, we grew.
This is a new self-portrait, painted during lockdown at the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, referencing some of the headlines which were dominating the world's press during the period.
The title is taken from a line in Amanda Gorman's "The Hill We Climb," a poem she finished after witnessing the siege on the Capitol and which she performed at Joe Bidens' inauguration.
On the right of the painting, there is a headline which references the siege, whilst other major headlines are mentioned too; 'Lockdown', the US ex-president's impending 2nd impeachment, and the roll-out of new vaccines across the world to bring an end to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as an acknowledgment of the extraordinary work of the UK's national health service.
At the end of 2020 as one of the most challenging years drew to a close, I planned to create a new self-portrait for exhibition. As an artist, I found it impossible not to respond directly to the contemporary themes and tragedies that have blighted my life and the lives of millions over the past 12 months. There are so many more headlines, unreferenced, but implied; climate change, (incongruous scarf) the lives lost, the ongoing mass extinction of species across the world and the senseless injustice of the racial divide (the paper figures) and so on.
I took Amanda's line in 'The Hill We Climb' as a title because this particular line; 'As we grieved, we grew' echoes the poem's - and the painting's main theme; one of hope, of learning and repairing. The painting is a pale comparison to the power of the poem, but none the less, it shares its sentiment and I hope documents and expresses some of the grief and helplessness we feel in this difficult time. 'We grew' is a fact. We have come together in so many ways, but this is sadly not so true in terms of politics and populism, however, it is a hopeful and powerful sentiment and one we must embrace. We must grow, globally as a nation and individually, in the same way so many have during the pandemic.
