My new project - Breathe, 2020

Michelle Sank writes: since March 2020 I have been documenting - first with social isolation, then with lockdown and now with the lifting - how people have managed private and public spaces in a neighbourhood close to where I live.

I have been drawn to how people of all ages are negotiating this new way of being and how their interaction with these spaces has unfolded – those living on their own, those in relationships and those within families. The gestures, body language and interplay all impart suggestive narratives in relation to this situation. The interaction and stories that have emanated from these meetings has added another dimension and poignancy to the unfolding situation.

Alongside this, house facades and accompanying objects have assumed a heightened sense of relevance as a metaphorical context for the representation of the portraits often having a religious element that seems to reflect the fragility of life.

Lee and His Father, from 'Breathe', 2020