Holder’s champion for The Wick is artist and Monday Muse Gaylene Gould who said: “Curtis’s work is extraordinary in form and style and also in psychological truth. It’s the way Curtis uses the portrait process as a means of deeper connection and understanding with his collaborator-sitters that lends the work such emotional resonance. Some work just moves you, and you don’t know why. With Curtis it’s clear – he’s reaching for humanity and he always finds it.”

Holder puts this partly down to his process, which always begins with getting to know his sitter and understand their life. “I’m drawn to the human, the subtle and the sometimes under-appreciated areas of life. For me, the dialogue I enter into with whoever I’m drawing is a point of connection where we can share our experiences and emotions. It’s the point where we begin to make the work together.”

Holder’s first institutional solo show exemplified this: as the first ever artist in residence at the National Theatre, London, Holder attended rehearsals and was invited to witness the thrilling backstage world of the theatre. He chose to bring attention to those who aren’t normally in the spotlight. “I was captivated by the work of the backstage production teams: the hair and wig stylists, prop and puppet makers, makeup artists, stage technicians and costume makers. These are the unsung heroes of theatre, yet their work is the backbone of each production, from epic set builds to meticulously crafted props.” Over many months of conversing and observing, Holder produced a series of large-scale portraits – “a celebration of all the dynamic creatives who bring theatre to life.”

Enveloping his subject’s stories with his own capacious imagination and attentiveness, Holder is undoubtedly one of the most exciting draftsmen working in the UK today. And the medium, as Holder tells The Wick, “is my first language. It’s an extension of who I am. Being both dyslexic and narcoleptic, it’s helped me to navigate my thoughts, fears and feelings and to understand the world around me.”