This ongoing series of indepth, and often intrusive, self-portraits reflects my everyday life, my physical and mental health, as well as some one-off events or episodes that help tell my story. I decided to show myself naked in all of them as an experiment in shedding the armour I often hide behind to gain confidence in certain settings, namely my wardrobe of clothes. Personally, I feel that images of the male nude in this country are still considered by many as something smutty or sniggered at childishly and far too often labelled as 'homoerotic' or pornographic rather than as fine art and something to be celebrated. Publishing these paintings online, and hopefully one day exhibiting them as a collection, for me was a much greater challenge than simply creating them, as I am a very introverted individual, even though in public I can give off an air of self-confidence.
Having both type 1 diabetes and long-term mental health issues has, for many years, had a profound effect on my day-to-day existence, and I hope that by depicting these issues in my private work they may strike a chord with others in a similar position and start some necessary conversations, particularly with other men of my generation.
