A general tendency toward the 'artist as creative genius' as opposed to 'artisan' in the 20th Century possibly brought about the biggest shift in history with regards to the understood relationship between practitioner and sitter, it's exponents, rather than being engaged in the pursuit of capturing a 'mere likeness' changing the very nature of the contract between artist and commissioner. By the beginning of the 21st Century however, such elevated notions on behalf of the creator had all but evaperated, painting as a whole struggling to maintain any significant  role within the contemporary art 'canon'. In response,  portraiture in particular has regressed in the eyes of many visionaries in a desperate attempt to gain any kind of  foothold in the public's awareness, returning instead to some kind of generic, pseudo-traditional values of little  meaning, if any,  beyond craftsmanship.

An ingrained need to explore a subject beyond the physical, to create, to take calculated risks, and yes, to pose difficult questions of ourselves, has always been uppermost in my approach as an artist. Portraiture throughout has remained an essential part of my practice, a passion embracing this approach fully. Supported by Arts Council England, as a major part of my brief here - the intention - to develop a new body of work through painting in particular, which builds upon the current conversations surrounding mental illness and my own journey navigating my way out of the mire  -  they say there are three kinds of artists: the perverse, the neurotic, and the psychotic. Well,  I believe the spectrum to be much wider and more colourful. While negating my own notions of portraiture, perhaps even the very way mental illness itself has been devoid of a voice historically throughout a rather chequered past historically  -  I hope to some extent to reflect  just a little of the journey here, reflecting this year's  body of work and, wherever yet that may lead .