Statement

I paint because I don’t want the stories people carry to be lost — the faces, emotions, and quiet moments that connect us. My work focuses on the everyday: not the masks we wear, but what sits beneath them, and the moments we share.

Each painting holds traces of perspective and memory. I focus on faces because every one carries a different truth.

My work is bold, layered, and colourful because life is. It is about connection — seeing, feeling, and recognising the subtle, unspoken threads that bind us through shared human experience.

Through these paintings, I aim to create space for reflection — where viewers can see themselves, or someone they know, within the work.

Layered. Honest. Alive.

Each work is created on professional-grade canvas and develops over time through multiple layers of oil paint. I prefer working on a large scale, making the subjects larger than life so their presence becomes immediate and unavoidable.

Rather than capturing a single moment, the painting evolves gradually, building depth, tension, and atmosphere through repeated observation and response.

I use layering as a way of constructing presence — working with light and dark, form and distortion, to shape both subject and emotion. Composition shifts as the painting develops, allowing the image to emerge rather than be imposed.

This approach draws on classical methods of underpainting and glazing, reinterpreted in a contemporary way to create complexity, movement, and emotional resonance.

Every layer adds depth.
Every layer shifts perception.
Every layer reveals something new beneath the surface.

 I am the creator of MYKS.studio, based in a Grade II listed Sussex barn — a contemporary working space where I paint, curate, exhibit, and develop projects. It functions as both studio and exhibition environment, forming the foundation of my practice. 

Selected Recognition / Key Highlights

Following a recent exhibition in Shoreditch, London, my work continues to gain recognition within contemporary figurative portrait painting.

2025 — Shortlisted for the VAA 500 Award
2025 — Selected for the VAA 100 International Artists list, recognising leading contemporary artists globally

My practice continues to be recognised for its emotionally driven, large-scale approach to contemporary portraiture, exploring personality, emotion, and human connection.