"This painting evolved over three months. Originally, I was going to have a black background, without any structure around it. However, the framework of the door held me within the painting, making me more static, and the cooler colours looked well against the gold and bronze. Sometimes I write on my paintings; this time not. I wanted no distractions, just the figure and the viewer."

Lucy Jones was born with cerebral palsy and dyslexia. She has said: "Every single brush stroke I have to fight for." But she is adamant that she does not want her disability to define her art. Being 66 has been painted with metallic paint as a suggestion of something precious.

Alongside Jones' winning self-portrait a longlist of highly commended works has been selected by the 2021 Prize judges: Will Gompertz, the BBC's Chief Arts Editor; Victoria Miro, international gallerist; The Right Honourable Mrs Justice Cheema Grubb, High Court judge; Sir Ian Blatchford, Director and Chief Executive of the Science Museum Group; Richard Borchard, son of Ruth Borchard and David Dawson, the artist and curator, who was the previous prize winner in 2019. 

The timing of the Self-Portrait Prize 2021 is poignant. As Victoria Miro says: "Many of the works in this year's prize were made during the pandemic, the uncertainty and sense of isolation creating a different mood. It is interesting that artists have made some of their best work during this period and the submissions were evidence of that. Lucy Jones, the prize winner, has made a raw and compelling nude self-portrait, drawing in the viewer with its honesty, unusual composition and daring use of paint. There were several strong contenders, but Lucy stood out."

The full list of highly commended works will be accessible here until 30th September 2021.