The Severed Head of Thom the Bastard (or Self Portrait With Daffodils)

2025
spray paint and acrylic on canvas
157 x 200 cm

"You have to let that part of yourself die. That thing inside you that loved so hard and gave too much. Let it die. She can keep it. Learn from it. Let it go."

This painting was made in the wake of a devastating breakup, and represents the ego death (or possibly the utter mental collapse) I experienced while making a series of self portraits for my recent solo exhibition at the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum for Sydney Fringe Festival. It is a contemporary take on the motif of the head of John the Baptist, incorporating elements of my street and fine art practices.