David Fairbairn, Large Head B.F. No.5., 2024, Acrylic gouache, pastel, charcoal, etching & ink on paper, 200 x 177cm

David Fairbairn avoids the temptation of overt realism. With tangled lines, he sculpts living portraits—his practice an intricate process of layering and refining. Each mark is gradually woven into the next, revealing the essence of his subjects; a history of distortion that shapes the sitter into an intimate figure that lives beyond the paper.