Jesse Leroy Smith. The central theme of my work is my family, an ever-evolving set of relationships in which emotion, desire and identity are tangible, fluid and vivid. I collage books in which friends, family and heroes montage with cultural references, my travels, my children’s contributions and my drawings from religious iconography and ancient art. Recent work veers between immersive friezes that interact with site specific venues to solitary portrait paintings called ‘Descendants’, where personally significant individuals can adopt other personas or imagined characters. Collaboration, curating and travelling have all allowed film, installation, performance and printmaking to influence my painting. My work is particularly shaped by extensive travels in Greece and these collages were made during a recent residency in Crete. ‘Predecessor – Sister’. Oil on tracing paper over collage. 20x29cm. £600