Siris Hill

Hill’s process is both rigorous and ethically engaged: subjects are co-authors of their representation, with agency embedded in the creation and reception of each portrait, ensuring that the finished pieces reflect lived experience rather than imposed interpretation. In doing so, Hill exposes the power dynamics historically encoded in portraiture while creating a space where dignity is a default, not a reward.

Growing up in a working-class family, Hill lived with chronic illness from childhood. Neglect and the stigma surrounding mental health led to homelessness in his teens, experiences that left him with CPTSD. Initial scribbles on his skin and on scrap material, made to calm himself, gradually became an artistic practice. Unable to use oil paints for health reasons, Hill turned to digital tools, developing his own medium that captures the brushstroke in layers of process, allowing viewers to engage with each work as they would a traditional painting.

Drawing from his own experiences of chronic illness, trauma, and homelessness, Hill situates his practice at the intersection of personal history, social critique, and art historical dialogue. On 10 July 2026, Hill and National Gallery curator Maryanne Saunders took part in the free talk The stories we don’t tell in the Rembrandt Room. Afterwards, works from Ordinary and tactile samples were presented in the Welcome Space at the Roden Centre for Creative Learning. His work has also been exhibited internationally, including solo and group shows in London and New York, and a solo exhibition at Fairhurst Gallery, Norwich (2019–2020). Hill holds a BA in Fine Art from Norwich University of the Arts (2018).