Over the last couple of years, face masks have covered our mouths. We’ve been able to hear words, guess whole facial expressions and pass unnoticed by people we know. How much of a person’s personality, expressiveness and message has been hidden behind masks? Not to mention all the smiles that can improve the journey of fellow travellers from a distance.

Now that the use of face masks has been largely abandoned, I have enjoyed the expressive power of the face as a whole. What it looks like when a child smiles at a parent, or a spouse presses his or her lips lightly to another’s cheek as they head off in a different direction to work in the morning.

Hello is a tribute to the mouth, the lips and all that this vital part of the face can offer us. The work is sketched in pencil and painted with thin acrylic paint.