She adds: “At this time, he was embarking on a new series of paintings that were compelling and strange. He can be a highly technical painter and, when he started at the Bomb Factory, his studio was filled with very detailed and beautifully rendered paintings of domestic or ordinary things: a kitchenette, a thermostat heating dial, a close up of a snooker shot. The flatness and cartoon-like quality of these works reminded me of the painter Duggie Fields, who it turned out had been his mentor. But he moved on from this flatness to a more uncanny figurative style.” 

One of her favourite paintings – titled “Mimetic Desire” – from his new series is representative of this change. It shows two topless girls facing away from the viewer who seem to be trapped in a claustrophobic and brightly coloured, windowless room, recalling a game. There are impossible shadows and a painting on a wall that reads: “I’ll have what she’s having.”

Citroen explains: “His new paintings all have this strange quality. They are full of people who seem isolated and separate from each other and their surroundings. Lawrence has created a modern type of surrealism, one that is influenced by games, fashion, and cartoons, or perhaps life after the pandemic or his personal experiences of illness. I get a sense of fragility in his work, of sadness and distance but also love and beauty. His paintings are contradictory, full of jokes and visual puns, and often unsettling and seductive in equal measure.”

Adds Perry: “I am inspired by the way people interact with one another, and how this develops the human psyche. A lot of my paintings portray psychological characterisations, allowing me to personify personalities and emotional states by placing them within narratives rooted in mythology, fables and children’s storybooks. When trying to visualise these, I draw references from film, art history and fashion photography. These visual aids help me to add a theatricality to my paintings. I often address isolating themes, but I want my work to have a kitsch quality that softens or trivialises the intensity of the pursuit of happiness.”

The artist splices references to everyday human experiences with elements that add humour and mischief, such as a shadow gone rogue or references to food. He sees it as a way to “add colour and campness” to his ongoing study of the human psyche.

Freed from the pressures of a gruelling exhibition schedule in 2024, Perry is currently enjoying developing new work in his studio and seeing where the journey takes him. We’ll be watching closely.