Pam Hawkes is an internationally renowned artist who teaches fine art courses at colleges and universities around Birmingham, England, where she resides. She has shown in London, Europe and America in joint and solo exhibitions. At first glance of her works, the rich, dark colors and muted gleam of gold leaf are reminiscent of grand late Renaissance portraits, but a second look reveals a vulnerability in the sitters, which is at odds with their formal pose. Hawkes’s mind is steeped in illuminated manuscripts and religious iconography which she transmits into striking images of today. She loves the idea of stillness, so often personified by the Virgin in paintings of the Annunciation throughout the ages, but many of the women of her portraits betray agitation behind their apparent tranquility. “The characters in my paintings don’t readily give away their stories, their histories of desire, love and games and we are not sure if they are trapped within this world of their own mysterious myth- making or are active participants. But what we are sure of is the seduction of a world where knowingly idealized characters, not quite of our time, invite us to speculate on not only their stories, but our own forgotten fables.” - Pam