Paintings and drawings, on a large scale, created in the year 2000; the final year of my BA Hons degree at Bradford College. I wanted to create portraits that reflected the jovial relationships and lively atmosphere in the chip shop next door, where my mum and her friend Bob worked. 'Fish n Chips Twice Love' was selected for exhibition in The Jerwood Drawing Prize and another portrait was acquired for a permanent collection at Bradford College.
Artist influences for this series included, Jeremy Deller, Richard Billingham, and Jo Spence, and research as to whether their work explored a challenge to traditional practices within documentary photography and fine art that perpetuated problematic representions of 'working-class' people's lives. I was interested in contemporary artists, film-makers and photographers that either drew upon their lived experience, or aimed to empower marginalised perspectives through documentary practice that allowed the 'subject' more control of the narrative.
I chose to have the drawing of your Mom in my office. It still looks great