Self Portrait (with vitiligo)

Self Portrait (with vitiligo)
Burn marks on hand shaved Japanese red pine, graphite, gouache,
2022

This work examines a new identity after a recent diagnosis of autoimmune disease. Vitiligo affects only 1% of the world’s population. The pigment cells (melanocytes) in the skin are killed when the immune system starts to attack and destroy parts of itself, resulting in the formation of white patches.

This drawing explores my experiences of the mental effects of the disease, the death and loss of parts of myself and coming to terms with a new body that is an ever changing canvas.

This work was selected and exhibited in the The ING Discerning Eye 2022 exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London UK from 11 to 20 November 2022.
The ING Discerning Eye annual exhibition is a show of small, domestic scale, works independently selected by six prominent figures from different areas of the art world: two artists, two collectors and two critics. This work was selected for exhibition by London based independent curator, art historian, and presenter Andrea Emelife.