LATEST:
We are delighted to announce that 'Smaller World', Paul's portrait of his mother has been selected for the National Gallery Portrait Award 2025.
Paul wanted to explore and understand the process of dementia as he watches his mother go further through the transformation brought on by this heartbreaking disease. We are acutely aware this is also a journey shared by so many of you.
Here, Paul's mother is surrounded by items from her childhood that have grown in significance as her long term memory becomes more dominant than before. He also wanted to reflect the visual and audio fog that intersperses the moments of lucidity as the disease progresses. Here we can see books mid-flight and the brushstrokes blur the lines of well known objects. In the middle she sits, absolutely still, looking beyond her immediate surroundings: present but, also, elsewhere.
It is a disease affecting one but impacting all. Families and friends must adjust and figure out this new relationship with our loved one. Understandably, this exploration is deeply personal, but as a portrait painter how does he share his journey with yours.
In the studio we are researching and exploring how portraiture can be more used for good within our global community.
If you would like to see the painting in person the Exhibition opens at the National Portrait Gallery on the 9th July through to October. https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/2025/hsfk-portrait-award/
Tipping Point, A solo exhibition