Kai Brooks

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Leeds based oil painter exploring the the parallels between the materiality and practice of oil painting and the love and development we experience in interpersonal relationships we hold in our lives.

Following my debut solo show in March 2025, 'Who Am I When I'm With You?", I have continued to pursue questioning the love I have for the process of painting, and what that means in its connection to the people I paint. Painting is a devout act of love, and creates tokens of appreciation for the people we seek to capture. Friends and family have sat for me on a dusty sofa in a cold studio, giving their time in exchange for a moment of being totally vulnerable to me, my love, and the paint. Once the moment has passed or the people have left - do these portraits become relics of something that once was? My debut show examined the phenomenon of bringing lots of people from different avenues of my life, old and new, into one room to witness the paintings I had created of them. The presence of the people (and in some case absences) felt as much a part of the practice as the paintings.

6 months on from the show, I find myself keen to put on a second iteration of the same exhibition that reflects the great magnitude of change I have experienced in the last few months. The loss of several close friends and a long term relationship has completely altered my social sphere and daily rituals, I find myself in a state of grief, growth and change. The paintings of people I once held close, now loom over me on my studio walls as a bittersweet reminder of those tender moments they gave to me.

Setbacks and loss won't stifle my love for painting. I find myself spending more time with new people and I want to push further with the way I spent time painting these new relationships from life and exploring the way they sit next to paintings of my old relationships.

"First a son, then a brother, a friend, a lover, an artist, an idealist, a much needed laugh, often alone, misunderstood. have we changed? Some paintings didn’t even happen - people whose time with me was so fleeting that it ends with “next time”. Are these portraits still a way to show love? Or are they now my own fear of loss manifesting as I watch more and more people leave eyeshot each season that passes. I’m sure that painting is still an act of love, that's why it hurts a little when I look at your face on the studio wall and wince slightly. I should call you." - Excerpt from the preface text of Who Am I When I'm With You?