Joseph Carey Merrick (Elephant Man Study II) (2020) Painting by Tom Aberneithie

The story of Joseph Carey Merrick touches me deeply. From Treves’ 1923 recollections to the surviving photos of him, from his cast bones through to the 1980 film ‘The Elephant Man’, his is a riveting tale, exposing deep emotions for me as an artist. Despite the tragedy of his life, how he maintained such gentleness, high levels of intelligence, acute sensibility and romantic imagination is beyond my comprehension. I cannot imagine the levels of optimism that this physically ‘half-dead heap of miserable humanity’ must have possessed, regarding himself as a dandy of the times, acting affectionately, gently, even amorously to those around him. For me Merrick symbolises eternal hope and an unflinching gratitude for life’s gifts. The highest forms of creativity embrace empathy and communicates directly, uniquely using the limitless possibilities afforded us in this short life. Merrick is a symbol of ultimate understanding, of everything involved in the human condition. Working from reference material, this painting is one of four portrait studies of him. I present him here as well-dressed on a sunny day, imagining himself as a dapper and eloquent raconteur. Paint is used not only to describe the bony mass and spongy, fungous-looking skin of his cranium but also to suggest an artist’s palette. Blended colours and brushed shapes on the two-dimensional MDF surface also take on the form of a narrative, alluding to the freshness and curiosity which was once Merrick’s own thinking.