Life Lines

Life Lines is a series of portraits that explore identity, mental health and the layered nature of the self. Each work is shaped by close, personal exchanges between LUAP and his sitters, who share stories and artefacts tied to significant moments in their lives. The series reflects on how experiences, both visible and hidden, shape who we become.

The paintings combine expressive abstraction with controlled, hyperreal detail. Broad, gestural marks are built up and broken down, while certain elements — a hand, an object, a facial feature — are rendered with precision. This interplay between loose and exact mirrors the fragmented and shifting ways we understand ourselves.

There is a quiet intensity to the work. Vulnerability sits alongside resilience. LUAP’s Pink Bear, no longer the central figure, appears as a softened presence in the background — a watchful symbol of support. The series carries a sense of transformation, inviting the viewer to consider not only how identity is formed, but how it can be reassembled.