Alumna selected for prestigious Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2024 | Alumni

The Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award is a prestigious competition which displays work from artists around the world and highlights the best in contemporary portrait painting.  

The painting Laura submitted is called ‘I’ll Never Not Miss You’. It is a portrait of her mother that explored her love, and pain. Many artists have explored the deathbed scene. Laura wanted to make something alternative to those more traditional and harrowing images associated with death.  

Laura’s mum was terminally ill from cancer and was sleeping in the daytime a lot due to the effects of chemotherapy. Laura painted her mum asleep during an afternoon, using the colours and position of her face turned away from the viewer, to create emotion and distance.  

Whilst the making of the work was emotionally painful, it was also cathartic, a way for Laura ‘to face grief head-on, and challenge the taboo of dying and death.’ 

She also spoke about how Loughborough was a huge turning point for her as an artist and that her Fine Art course allowed her to see possibilities beyond just a traditional approach to making art.  

Laura shared: 

“My experience at Loughborough was truly phenomenal. From halls, the BA Fine Art course, the students’ union, and the town that became home for 3 years; Loughborough helped shape me to who I am today. The opportunity and experience showed me that a person from a financially challenging background can have a place in a top university, just like anyone should.  

She added:  
“I made amazing friends, and cliche as it may sound, came out of my adolescent shell. So much of what I achieved whilst at Loughborough helped me to really see a future in art and form a stronger basis for life after undergraduate and then eventually going onto my masters.” 

After a challenging first year at University, Laura allowed herself to listen to her interests, which paved the way for an introduction of literature and psychology to create works that are multi-layered and more conceptual, which continues to drive her work now. Laura was able to explore writing and installation within a fine art framework, and understand fully the possibilities within contemporary fine art.  

Exploring the idea of alternative portraiture began during her time at Loughborough.  

With the help of the written modules and tutor encouragement with peer support, from the second year, she started working in a new way. She was always interested in human experience and portraiture but wanted to find ways to incorporate a wider sense of a person.  

This interest is still fundamental to Laura’s work now. Going back to her 2D paintings and a more traditional realistic approach, she has been able to continue to develop this with elements of conceptualism. The painting of her mum is an example of this – the title refers to Laura. The presentation is of Laura, her mum and the wider audience who can connect to it from their experience of grief. 

Laura was asked what advice she would give to current Loughborough students who aspire to achieve recognition in prestigious awards and exhibitions, and she replied: 

“The best advice I can give someone is to listen to yourself as an artist. Do not be swayed too much by opinions that do not feel authentic to you or try to pigeonhole yourself into something you think you should be. Trust the process, make mistakes, and learn from them. Our drive and motivation is in all of us, we just need to hear it and to believe it.” 

Find out more on The National Portrait Gallery’s website.