Somniflora developed from some of the ideas I had begun exploring during the first lockdown, when I found myself spending more time observing nature and returning to paintings I had loved for years. There was something very comforting about that, but it also reminded me how much the artists of the Renaissance and the Dutch Golden Age have shaped my own work, particularly the way I approach portraiture.

I've always been fascinated by the timeless quality of certain faces, and I think that influences my choice of models as much as anything. Sometimes I'll meet someone and immediately want to paint them, recognising something in their features or expression that I can easily imagine catching the eye of Botticelli or one of the painters I so admire. I love that sense of connection with artists working centuries before me, and the opportunity to explore those influences in a contemporary setting. Somniflora was very much a part of that continuing exploration.