A young girl dressed in blue jeans and a black vest stands in front of a blackboard. She has dressings on her arms and visible under her vest, and we can see a few blisters on her skin. The blackboard behind her is covered in writing, all about the personality of Claudia, the subject of the portrait.
Lynn Kennedy (b.1972), I am Claudia, 2019. © Lynn Kennedy. Photo © National Gallery of Ireland, Photographer: Roy Hewson.Credit

Lynn Kennedy

I am Claudia, 2019

Oil on linen, 80 x 60 cm

‘Claudia Scanlon is a teenager living with epidermolysis bullosa, a painful skin condition which causes her skin to easily blister and wound. When I met Claudia to paint her, she talked about her love of art, so I have included tracings of some of her own drawings and her own words in this work. Claudia has a strong voice and I wanted to make sure it was heard in her portrait.’

 

Lynn Kennedy is a figurative artist based in Dublin. She graduated from the Institute of Art, Design + Technology in 1993, and since then has worked in several creative arts, including design, illustration and photography. Lynn now works primarily in oils, and much of her work is commissioned for private collections. This year her self-portrait was shortlisted for the biennial Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize, and is on exhibition at Piano Nobile Kings Place, London, until autumn 2019. She is currently creating work for an upcoming solo exhibition at the Signal Arts Centre in Bray.

 

Go back to the shortlisted works

See the next work, by Miseon Lee

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