I realised something today that I had not fully understood while painting this piece.

I thought I was painting a figure in motion. A woman caught between fabric, atmosphere, light and shadow. I kept trying to solve visual problems. Softening edges, muting colours, creating movement, allowing the figure to emerge and dissolve at the same time.

But today I realised I had painted something much more personal.

Over the past few years, life as I knew it has changed. Losing my mother after my father changed something deeply inside me. Helping my family through illness and difficult periods has changed me too. And now, making the decision to completely change my own path and begin again as a student at the Royal College of Art feels both exciting and exposing.

While painting this piece, I kept feeling that the figure was becoming something, but I could not fully understand why.

Today I realised she was reflecting what was happening inside me.

Grieving. Carrying. Letting go. Evolving. Emerging.

I think that is why this painting became so emotional for me to finish. Because somewhere during the process, without consciously meaning to, I poured part of my inner world into it.

I called it Becoming because that is exactly what this chapter of my life feels like.

Not who I once was.

Not yet fully who I will become.

Just becoming.

Becoming

Oil on plywood, 2026