Paul Johnson describes his work as “fiction”. In this series of work, each of his figures is a compilation of three different elements: a head, body, and uniform, each separately sourced from found photographs. “They have a Masonic ritual quality,” says Johnson. “The three elements are drawn, photographed, then photocopied before they are collaged. The intention is to construct a real person. In Sister, the girl has a floating or constructed aura above her head, these abstract forms are the thought patterns or feelings this person is having. They also can be read as hair adornments that echo some form of ritual she might be going through. Most of my portraits have a passiveness to them. The figures are kind of turned away, slightly switched off as if other things are happening to them and they are not in control of themselves.”