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Writer's pictureHabib Hajallie

The Painful Joy of Love

This self-portrait depicts the romanticised notion of the archetypal artist plagued with the ‘affliction’ of an apparently innate desire to pursue art. With the macabre image of a pencil penetrating the subject’s head, conveying the inner turmoil experienced during the tumultuous journey of becoming an artist.

The pages from the 1940's text, Questions Of Our Day, provides a direct means of contextualising the surrounding motifs. This portrait shows a sense of vulnerability that is traditionally hidden in the presentation of young British men of African descent, such as myself.


This work is also the only pencil drawing that i have produced in 7 years.

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