Be You - 2020

A housewarming gift, vandalised.

The original blank ‘Be You’ canvas was a gift from my ex, after I’d gotten out of a bizarre, uncomfortable and dangerous flatshare, into a place that would serve me well for 3 years. She told me she couldn’t find anything with “live love laugh” in the charity shop she bought it from.

She also encouraged me to paint over it and make something fun when I was feeling artsy enough. I liked this idea, and I did it right away. It said “Be You”, so I made it me. I adorned it with colours I liked, patterns reminiscent of the second hand knitwear I wore, references to pop culture I was into and a little Isaballe from HappyZone hidden in a corner. I later went over and filled the black areas in with Black 3.0 from CultureHustle.