Celia Birtwell and Some of her Heroes 1963

Pauline Boty, who was also a bit of a hero herself, made this painting of Celia Birtwell surrounded by images of other heroes. The way Boty handles paint here feels easy, immediate – but that’s deceptive, right? I mean, everything we do is process, whether we like it or not. Look at the way she layers the paint to create the composition; the built-up textures against the flatter passages. The blue jeans for example are painted wet on wet to give them depth and realism. Elsewhere, the paint is thin, almost like a stain, leaving a ghostly trace of the artist’s hand, like in the pastels of Birtwell’s skin. Then there are the collaged magazine images that sit on the surface, creating a dialogue between the real and the represented. Boty died far too young, but her playful blending of Pop Art, personal narrative, and feminist sensibility reminds me of the work of Rosalyn Drexler, who also combined painting with collage. Both artists invite us to question the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and the world around us.