"After sharing an artist residency in Baker Street with Rene Gonzalez, he recommended me for an exciting project called ‘The Artist's Artist Project’.

The Artist’s Artist Project is a local initiative launched at the beginning of 2019, and aims to showcase free public art and the creativity of London’s artists in the vibrancy of Seven Dials. I was commissioned to create the third piece which endeavoured to convey a powerful and topical message that raises awareness for the conversation around mental health.

The artwork supports World Mental Health Day. With one in four people in the UK experiencing a mental health problem each year, at the centre, the painting features four figures sat on a sofa. One of the four is painted in a deep blue colour, in contrast to the vivid bright colours of the other three individuals, representing how one of them is experiencing a mental health issue, but surrounded by a close support network.

The artwork was created in the same building that Rene and I met during our residency which is now my full-time studio and home."

Companionship is an integral theme to Lee Kay Barry's work as he is fascinated by how our bodies interact, transition and turn with each other in the space around us.

The subjects and environments in his paintings are often dictated and influenced by domestic settings and familiar environments.

Lee Kay Barry aims to create a sense of continuous action through abstraction and he feels impelled to capture the fluidity of life.