I was delighted to be asked to create these two portraits of Jay Blades @jaybladesmbe in 2021. I wanted to create two distinctly different portraits. This piece was intended to focus on the significance of community within Jays life. The images embedded within this portrait come from Jay's personal archives and represent the communities and people who have been a part of his journey so far. From the short time we spent with him, it was evident how important a role this has played in his life. Even when doing a photo shoot with the talented Vanessa Endeley on Portobello Road, he made sure to take the time to chat with everyone who came by and recognised him.

In the second painting I tried to capture a more tender and personal side of Jay. He was generous enough to take the time to speak with us about some of his life experiences. Hearing about some of his childhood memories was especially touching. I wanted to incorporate some of these memories into this piece through the image transfers. It ended up creating quite a vulnerable portrait. A big thank you Raoul Shah and Exposure London for providing the opportunity and of course to Jay for his generosity in sharing some of his personal experiences and precious photos from his life.