This self-portrait was painted in 2019 at a time when I was emerging as an artist. I felt exposed, and wanted to represent that in the work. My pulled-back hair and minimal clothing denote both vulnerability and strength in revealing my true self. I am a figurative artist based in London, specialising in portraiture. I am self-taught and now paint professionally part-time. I have a BA and MPhil. in Music from Cambridge University. I started painting in oils 5years ago, having not painted with them since school. Since then, I have exhibited at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition a number of times and was a finalist in Sky Portrait Artist of the Year 2020, painting Melanie Sykes, Bernardine Evaristo and Eddie Izzard. I am fascinated by portraiture and particularly self-portraiture. My aim is to create a sensitive, contained, and honest portrayal of my subject, seeking an emotional truth to communicate feelings which I can only express through paint.