AM10 2024 conference artist
I am honoured to have been the appointed artist at the 10th biennial Appearance Matters Conference. The event ran from 11-13th June in Bristol City Hall, organised by UWE Centre for Appearance Research “CAR”.
L to R - Gail Reid, Amit Ghose, Dr Nicola Stock, Dr Maia Thornton
The highlight of my engagement was to unveil this commissioned portrait of influencer Amit Ghose.
A panellist at the conference, Amit was actively involved throughout the portrait process, as were the hosting Centre for Appearance Research team.
We collaborated on social media to build excitement around the conference, sharing the planning, sketching, and painting process (eg this varnishing video). It was a great opportunity to bring new audiences to the on-line platforms of Amit, myself, and the CAR team.
The full scope of exhibited work represents two people who have chosen to share their experience living with visible difference. Here are the stories and process behind them:
Amit Ghose
Influencer, advocate, and public speaker, Amit has Neurofibromatosis 1. He spoke on the panel “Beyond the Selfie: Can Social Media Influencers Shape the Appearance Diversity Landscape?”.
Cheryl Hardy (on the right in this picture with me)
A mature history student at Bristol University. Diagnosed with HER2 negative breast cancer in 2019, Cheryl approached me shortly after mastectomy surgery, to collaborate on a project to draw her figure.
Amit Ghose - The boy who played cricket
This painting refers both to Amit’s work (on social media and public speaking), and to the transformative effect that his bowling skills had on his school experience.
Amit describes in this video how “I went from ‘Amit the guy with the funny face’ to ‘Amit the guy who plays cricket’”
100x150cm oil on canvas (prints available here).
Live discussion and sketching
As Amit and I both love live media, we convinced CAR it was a good plan to discuss and plan the portrait LIVE!
Dr Maia Thornton (senior research fellow, and host on the Appearance Matters Podcast) hosted a 3-way discussion & sketching livestream. We covered Amit’s thoughts about being painted, his reactions to the sketches, and our hopes for how the portrait might be received. You can watch the full discussion on YouTube here:
Designing Amit’s portrait
Portraiture is an opportunity to amplify elements of a person’s story. It requires openness and curiosity from both subject and artist. I have documented the intentions and process for this portrait, including sketches and reference photos here.
My thanks to CAR for introducing me to Amit, and commissioning the portrait. My first contact with CAR was as a speaker at TEDx Bristol in 2023, where Dr Nicola Stock (associate professor at CAR, conference co-chair) was also speaking. Dr Stock spoke about Visible Difference, I spoke about Body Image - a match made in heaven!
Cheryl Hardy - Defiance
Immediately following breast cancer surgery and treatment, with her hair just starting to regrow, the formidable Cheryl contacted me through a mutual friend to re-discover life modelling. Cheryl felt it may help her come to terms with her new shape, and wanted to try modelling privately, before considering a larger public life drawing group. We subsequently collaborated on more finished work, which we jointly put into the public realm (gallery exhibition and a co-authored blog). The collaboration is documented fully, including Cheryl’s words here.
Part of the conference exhibition featuring Cheryl
I am grateful to the conference chairs for allowing me to invite Cheryl’s friends in to see the display of work featuring Cheryl. Dr Nicola Stock (co-chair) spoke with them about the centre’s work with many different segments of the visible difference community, including mastectomy patients. I was very happy to be able to demonstrate the continuing positive impact of Cheryl’s idea to collaborate with me. It was lovely to learn from them how excited she had been about our project together, and that it had indeed been helpful to her.
Acknowledgements
Dove - Sponsor of the Appearance Matters conference.
The Centre for Appearance Research team, for supportively engaging with this project from start to finish. Some of them shown below, en route to the conference dinner (far right: Centre Director Professor Beth Daniels). Particular thanks to (not pictured) Dr Kirsty Garbett for logistical support with all strands of the portrait/conference process.
My local branch of Cass Art (store manager Debbie Wiltshire responded generously to my invitation to contribute to the materials - the store is just round the corner from the venue City Hall).
Barney Speed-Grenfell (speaking coach, who via TEDx Bristol introduced me to Dr Stock).
My son Leon Gent for technical help with the livestream, hanging and taking down the exhibition.
Shop here
All the work exhibited is available to buy, just click on the images below for info & to order. Free UK postage, or collect in person. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with enquiries about projects, commissions, exhibition etc.
Original work available to buy:
Your comments are welcome
Thank you for your interest in the conference artwork. I would love to know your thoughts - Do any of the images relate to your personal journey, or that of loved ones? Feel free to leave a comment, or contact me directly with any feedback or enquiries.
