Lockdown Blues

Recently I set myself a challenge to paint portraits. As I began painting, we entered into another lockdown here in Melbourne and my portraits have turned into an exploration of how we are coping emotionally with the pandemic and lockdown life.
 
In this series, I am juxtaposing newspaper headlines with the faces of people. The headlines tell us what is happening in the external world but people's faces tell us what is happening in their world. I'm particularly interested in how we, as a society, are both anxious and resilient at the same time.
 
To me, the portrait is a perfect expression of this state. As a viewer, looking at a face at rest, I am intrigued by the variety of emotions I can read: anxiety, resignation and quiet strength.