I never know what I am about to paint.

This figure emerged unexpectedly and, as she did, I found myself thinking about the individuals who have made impact through music and seemingly ordinary acts of courage. People who chose to speak when it would have been easier to stay silent, who acted when it would have been safer not to.

The painting reflects to me who we can become when we are faced with a choice between silence and action, conformity and conscience, fear and integrity.

It asks what could happen when we stop organising our lives around fear and instead allow ourselves to act from what we know to be right.

This piece of art was created in a time within a wider body of art exploring similar themes.