Nick Saunders, Acrylic Portrait on Linen

One of the portraits I created for a series of projects of disability activists. He's a long time disables activist and was part of the original Disability Action Network, fighting for accessible transport.

Disabled people are invisible in our Institutions and Museums, especially painted portraits, which are often reserved for the very wealthy and famous. Painting disabled activists such as Nick embeds people from diverse backgrounds into our history and changed the rhetoric. 

Just painting a disabled person is a political act because most people don't see us as we are not part of the body beautiful.

This series of portraits I am painting brings to life hidden histories and untold storied and campaigns. Disabled people are the last in our society to have human rights. Which makes this body of work extremely important when bringing this issue to the forefront.

Commissioned by London Transport Museum, 2025

Image Description for Accessibility:

An acrylic painting depicts a man, Nick Saunders, seated on a white plastic chair. He has short, light-coloured hair and is wearing a dark T-shirt with the words "PISS ON" visible in red lettering. He holds a dark stick or cane in his right hand. To his right, on a dark wall, is a painted white square with a red circle and a horizontal black bar through it, resembling the London Underground logo. The background features a light-coloured window on the left.