Huge thanks to the wonderful and generous hosts at Boliquieme. I set up this residency in Portugal to explore and process new work inspired by place, rocks, landscapes, symbolism and local stories from the Algarve Portugal.
It was wonderful to make connections between Cornwall with its granite rocks and the more permeable rocks of Southern Portugal, to be part of the living texture of the place, inspired by everything – even the colour of pomegranates and conversations (in between helping to nurse chickens in the barn studio and watching thunderstorms) about the possible interpretations of the relationship between the two main figures of the painting.
As I worked on the painting, the title ‘iguras de convite’ (welcoming figures in Portuguese) took on a personal meaning as I began to think of it as ‘say welcome to yourself’, a kind of self care in accepting and welcoming different aspects of yourself/selves.