Lucy Jones' painting Being 66 has been announced as the 2021 winner of the Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize, a biennial art prize established in 2011 to promote and celebrate the practice of self-portraiture and continue the ethos of Ruth Borchard’s original vision into the 21st Century.
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Self-portraiture has formed a large part of Jones' practice over the years and Being 66 references a work she made 16 years ago entitled Being 50. Each depicts a women's changing body.
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Of her entry, Jones says: "'Being 66' gives a nod to old age. Thinking about being 66 led me to thinking about existing, living and being alive. In the last 12 months, life has been in suspension for all of us. This year of such tragedy for many has left us in a raw and vulnerable place. Painting myself naked shows me in a vulnerable state, but also a defiant one, as I turn my head to look out at you."
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Lucy Jones was born with cerebral palsy and dyslexia. She has said "Every single brush stroke I have to fight for." But she is adamant that she does not want her disability to define her art. Being 66 has been painted with metallic paint as a suggestion of something precious.
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Selected by Will Gompertz, Ian Blatchford, Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb, Victoria Miro, David Dawson and Richard Borchard, this year's shortlisted works will be on view in a group exhibition at Coventry Cathedral from 17 May - 29 June 2021 as part of The City of Culture celebrations.

Click here for further information and to watch the prize being awarded to Lucy Jones.