2021 | Bailiwick express, 06 August
Elodie Redoulès, reporter and arts editor

For the past 10 years, Liam Nunn has been working as an animator and graphic designer in the creative, marketing and advertising industry.

While he enjoys the work and it has allowed him to build a career out of his “arty, creative mind”, Liam says he prefers “pure art”.

“It’s a great job, the industry and the brilliant colleagues and clients I have worked with have taught me a lot,” he said. “But pure art is my side hustle and real love, where I can explore my brain without boundaries for my own amusement. The problem is, though, I don’t do it enough, not even nearly enough.”

Left feeling like he was “wasting his talent”, Liam decided to force himself into “doing” during lockdown, giving rise to a project that kept his creative juices flowing for a whole year.

“Buying an expensive iPad was the solution because I had to use it, or I would be in trouble!” he said.

“I set a loose silly task of doing a portrait every week. The journey was about forcing me to break the cycle of self-critique. Seeking creative joy with no expectations. I normally hate setting creative boundaries, but something compelled me.

“It could have been any subject matter, but I absolutely love portraiture - I am not fussed about landscapes or buildings or still life. Give me eyes, hairy ears, wonky noses and dodgy teeth please. I picked my own face as I had easy access during lockdown and also it allowed me to explore beyond the first view, delving into the raw without the potential of offending the sitter! I do like to explore the unusual and the uncomfortable.

The project was Liam’s first “proper play” with digital art as he normally prefers paper and pencil.

“To my surprise, when I jumped in, it suited me,” he recalled. “It was easy pick up and put down without getting equipment out or getting messy, I didn’t have to wait for paint to dry and I could press a cheeky undo when I did a little ‘whoops’. I enjoyed my first dabble but wanted to get better and practise is the only way to get better at things right?

“Most weeks, I had no idea what I wanted to produce, beyond the obvious representation of me, and it was a nice surprise to see what came out of my head each time. I didn’t get too precious, I put plenty in the bin, but I stuck to it. One a week, that’s it, even if I wasn’t sure it was ‘finished’.”

Liam said he had been surprised to see how much support his peers gave to the project. While he simply thought it would get a “like of gentle approval”, he didn’t expect it would be received with “joy”.

“People seemed to genuinely enjoy seeing what popped out each week, even anticipating each new arrival,” he said. “This is wild to me, I am grateful and it made me realise that maybe my selfish art isn’t just for me. It also made me realise that I want to see more of what my peers are up to. I bet there are loads of hidden or under used talents that I want to see.”

This month, in addition to launching ‘Milk Creative Studios’, Liam is presenting his self-portraits at the Link Gallery at Jersey Museum. But ‘House of Mirrors’ is not the end of the self-portrait project.

Liam is looking to curate 52 portraits of himself - to be released one-a-week, of course - produced by anyone, of any ability, to continue the journey.

“I want to see different mediums and approaches; digital, real paint, pencil, biro, photography, a cake face or whatever,” he said. “I want people to do a piece of art if they haven’t for years, or even since school. Ideally I’m hoping to springboard others into their own projects after, whether those projects are art-based or other creative endeavours. Making things is best.”