Thompson Hall

This is my large painting on canvas which I have nearly finished. The background is built up of a multitude of layered colours in busy brushstrokes, going in every direction. The layers of colour are blues, yellows, mauve, fluorescent pinks and back to light greens on top. The figures are painted on using black outlines in a thin brush. The figures are going about their day oblivious to whats happening around them. There are four standing figures crossed arm looking out to the viewer, I have painted them in an aggressive stance. They are deliberately one woman and three men. The pose I chose suggest to me, ” You are not welcome and not invited”.  The figures are more of a block rather than loose and free flowing like those in my Malaysian painting. This shows more my feeling about being anxious amongst the crowds in London.

I’ve been working in the studio today on my latest painting which depicts rows of people in a straight line, moving in one direction across the canvas. They are all oblivious to everyone around them. There are two people staring out with their arms crossed. For me, they are expressing the inaccessibility of the crowd and the feeling of being outside and me looking in. I feel its going well but I have a lot more to do.

With this new painting, I’ve decided to use a vibrant selection of colours to help me reflect on how I feel about the hustle and bustle of London. I want to represent not feeling part of the crowd and not wanting to be part of the chaos. I started with the drawings that I’ve been making at home and will develop those within this painting.

I’m in the studio today with Sarah selecting some of the drawings I’ve been making for her to take with her to Malaysia. They will be part of the Sync Leadership exhibition at the British Council in Kuala Lumpur. We chose three drawings of crowds in Kuala Lumpur and three drawings of crowds that I see in London. I liked the selection that we chose because they represent what I am trying to express, referring to the differences that I feel about the crowds in each country.

I’m in the studio at ActionSpace today working on my latest painting based on my drawings of the crowds in Kuala Lumpur. These drawings were inspired by the images that Izzati’s sister, Armani sent me of videos of them out and about in Kuala Lumper. This made me think of comparing the crowds  there and in London, something I have been working on in recent drawings. I want to show the chaos and feeling of claustrophobia that crowds can create.

I found working on a smaller scale canvas last week very restrictive so I moved back to large. This has given me a chance to be more expressive with brush strokes and experimental with my colours. I use my drawings for inspiration but will see where the painting goes as it develops in its own way.

I’ve spent some time over the weekend looking at my metaphor that I chose which is a lava lamp. This describes my personality being quiet, thoughtful and reflective, as well as being colourful and calm but draws you in and is charismatic when it’s called upon.

Over the weekend at home, I watched the short films that Armani and Izzati sent me. These showed different areas of Kuala Lumpur with crowds of people walking around shopping centres and streets. I used these to make my own version of drawings thinking about the crowds here and there, going about their everyday lives. I am going to start some paintings in the studio based on my drawings.

This photo is of me drawing during the Sync leadership zoom session this week. We had time to draw our ideas at the end of the session. The drawing is of people rushing around but with one person stopping looking out. It has a busy colourful background to symbolise the frantic nature of modern life, something I have been looking at in my artwork. I spoke to Sarah about comparing societies in London to those in Malaysia as this could be really interesting. It will be good to see what the similarities are. I think I will use this to inspire some work for the project.

Inspired by Andi’s drawing of his leadership styles in our session this week, I decided to draw my own and share it. I used my own symbols to represent what I thought my leadership skills were. I put them in order of how I see myself. Quiet was my first one which was a loudhailer in a circle with the line through to show no loud noice. The second one is Situational, that describes me being a member of the ActionSpace board and also the CVAN steering group. Next one is Inclusive which describes me allowing others to have their say. I like this symbol the best because it shows a big figure holding other smaller figures. The last one is Charismatic, this is when I am faced with a challenge, I rise to that occasion. The thumbs up are to attract peoples attention. I decided to colour the background in the way I do my drawings at home, which is multicoloured and busy.

I chose the Universal Credit painting I did in 2018 to talk about for our first meeting with the group because it was a very personal piece.

I was made to look at how the benefit system treats people and how unfairly it discriminates some hidden disabilities. This painting highlights the fact of when I went for a work assessment to be asked questions about my disability. It resulted in me loosing my benefits and having to appeal with the help of a social worker. It took a long time for my benefits to be reinstated and it really affected me in how I lived my everyday life as its the only source of income I had.

I wanted to make paintings about my experiences and to highlight these issues. It made me become more political and socially aware.

Latest Experiments, Thompson Hall, 2025

This is a recent artwork. People are rushing but all of them are alone and not connecting with each other.

Meeting Sarah for 1:1 allowed me to reflect on what I need as a leader and that is more time. Time to reflect and time to think about how i can say ‘yes’ to things that are good for me and ‘no’ when i know that something will cause me stress. Leaders need to look after themselves first before they can lead others.

Sarah and Thompson at Action Space in London.

I had my first meeting with Sarah from the project last Friday at Cockpit Studios where i work every Friday. I’ve met Sarah before. She has been to see my work in exhibitions and has worked with our ActionSpace board which I’m part of. She also spoke to Lisa Brown who will be working alongside me. I got to talk about things that matter about my work and the importance of reflection. Oh and leadership too! Sarah made a film of our time together.