I am extremely proud to have been shortlisted for the John Moores Painting Prize 2025. The short film below illustrates how the phosphorescent pigment responds to varying light sources, demonstrating its capacity to emit luminescence in darkness and transform the painting, by allowing the invisible to become visible.
Safehold- Oil and phosphorescent pigment on canvas - 18cm x 24cm - 2025
About 'Safehold'
We exist in a state of flux, caught between nostalgia for a more innocent past and the complexities of the present: political instability, environmental crisis, information overload, and the rise of AI.
‘Safehold’ explores our longing for security and refuge. Our lives our lived in a state of duality: one shaped by physical experience, the other by our inner emotional, mental, and spiritual reflection. It is this unseen inner world that I seek to make visible through the metaphorical use of landscape.
Using phosphorescentpigment, ‘Safehold’ shifts between two states. When viewed in light, it reflects our fragility within an uncertain world. In darkness, a luminous geometric structure emerges. The work invites viewers to reflect on our intrinsic need for resolution, both physical and mental, amid the shifting realities of today’s world. The Prize provides a platform for artists to inspire, disrupt and challenge the British painting scene today. Showcasing the very latest in painting across the UK, the competition culminates in a major exhibition every two years in Liverpool.
First held in 1957, the competition was named after its founding sponsor Sir John Moores. The prize is open to all artists working with paint, who are aged 18 years or over and live or are professionally based in the UK.
Past prizewinners have included Peter Doig, Rose Wylie, David Hockney, Mary Martin, Graham Crowley and Sir Peter Blake. The exhibition is held at The Walker Gallery in Liverpool. It opens on 6 Sep 2025—1 Mar 2026
