Tom Polo the embrace (every other way around)

In my paintings, I’m interested in the emotional and physical space between people and their relationships to one another. In the embrace (every other way around), two faces are engaged in a stare-off, whilst an oversized pink hand appears to draw one figure closer to the other. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to depict intimacy, particularly after the last year where our proximity to one another has been largely restricted or confined.

Thin washes of dark colour act as veils or barriers, creating a space that is both layered yet shallow. These layers contain fragments of text – often my own musings or things overheard – extending ideas of what is hidden and what is revealed.

Tom Polo, 2021