Conditioned, 2026, oil on ACM panel, 30x40cm.

This self-portrait examines the quiet, cumulative violence of coercive control; a form of abuse that operates through psychological manipulation rather than physical force. The portrait reflects a state of internalised surveillance, where autonomy is gradually diminished and the self becomes fragmented under persistent control.

Rather than depicting a single event, the work holds the weight of a prolonged experience: the narrowing of choices, the distortion of reality, and the slow erosion of personal agency. By meeting the viewer’s gaze, the subject asserts presence and selfhood in opposition to the silencing mechanisms of abuse.

Painting this self-portrait becomes an act of reclamation. It reclaims authorship over a narrative once shaped by another, and affirms that safety, dignity, and mutual respect are essential foundations of any equal relationship.