SHADOW is a series of charcoal and painted portraits about oppression, identity and the self. Influenced by Carl Jung’s ideas around the shadow self – made from repressed desire, ideas, instinct, and our weaknesses and shortcomings, these bold portraits to highlight my own repressed emotions, humility and attitudes towards oppressive social constructs surrounding gender and race. The subjects are predominantly people of colour, who I have met whilst travelling. Their stories, connection and sense of solidarity motivated me to create this body of work. Throughout creating SHADOW the faces become experimental, progressively abstract, expressionist and the introduction of colour has been an enjoyable and a pivotal moment of growth in my creative development and style.

“Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. At all counts, it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant intentions” – Carl Jung