I am thrilled to announce the Government Art Collection has acquired my painting Idai, painted in 2019. The painting will join the collection and I am excited to watch its journey.
The painting was the first I made using a particular method and addressing the climate crisis, a burning concern in my mind. Idai was a deadly cyclone which hit Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi in March 2019. Footage was taken by news channel helicopters including filming this man, wading through floods, carrying vessels, and looking for clean water. At the moment it was broadcast on BBC News I picked up my phone and took some photos of the tv screen, which I used to make a pastel drawing, below, and later the painting.
It was pivotal in the way I make work and how I think about the landscape we inhabit.
Idai drawing, 2019