This feature was written by Elliott Whiteman, originally on https://www.sycamoreclub.co.uk/sycamore-club/mike-thebridge-interview.

I've been working on portraits more and more recently; and since lockdown began I've been painting a lot more too. I've written some of my thoughts on modern portraiture and what it means to me. When I first wrote this piece, it quickly spilled out on to the pages of my notebook as an uncontrolled stream of consciousness. I’ve left it as close to it’s original form as possible because that seemed right and true to the moment.

Have you ever wondered what goes on inside an artist’s head when they create? Are you asking what do painter’s think when they paint? This short piece exposes the inner dialogue of an artist creating a portrait painting. A bit of fun, but I often go through a roller coast of thoughts and feelings when making art. It’s better when you can fall into the work and your inner voice is silent, though this is rare and seldom enduring. Often for me, it’s like a crowd of people, with the same voice, talking over each other with conflicting advice.

I'm often asked this question, in one form or another. I've always felt being an artist was the right choice, but why this is isn't always clear. Why do I make art and what do I want the art I create to do? As I develop my practice the answers to these questions will change, here's my latest.

Here’s where to find me and my work through December

Here’s where to find me and my work this month.

I started making new work about two months ago, the initial ideas have grown, blossomed, and now the fruit is almost ripe. This new series explores ideas of consciousness and how we communicate our personal experience of this. This is an area of inquiry that has massive influence on many areas of our society and thinking, but also an area where we are only just beginning to understand the problems, let alone answer them.

Here’s where you can find me this month

I recently decided to take up portraiture. A few weeks ago, I met a talented portrait artist at a party; we drew each other, and I started on a journey. This would lead me to learn not just new drawing skills but a greater sense of understanding of how others see the world.

I started creating work under the moniker Visual Flux in 2016. Like an image gradually coming in to focus, the ideas, purpose and creative direction have become clearer over time.

As you head in to the gallery you encounter a crowd of busts from Giacometti. It's immediately obvious how Giacometti goes from merely representing life to creating life. Giacometti at the Tate Modern tells the artist's story and his continued attempts to describe human beings at a time when humanity had seemingly left Europe.

The winding, white-walled warren of Wolfgang Tillmans' Tate Modern exhibition takes us through a world of images where the viewer becomes the story teller. Beginning by studying every image, depicting everything from close ups to landscapes; moving in and out of a multiplicity of narratives, trying to piece together an intention and connect this mass of information.

It’s worth braving the crowds at the British museum to see ‘Hokusai: beyond the great wave’ this summer. Aside from the insights in to Japanese culture and image making, there’s a lot you can learn about building your own brand and making a living from your art which is relevant to modern creative practice.

Both Giacometti and Klein manage to reach through time. The pairing of the two at the Gagosian uncovers a resonance that echoes through the ages.

As the theory goes, one in every two hundred men are related to Genghis Khan. At the V&A we see a similar fecundity in a powerful iconic image and how it appears in so many aspects of our visual culture.

Paintings are obvious lies, which we can use to expose all the lies of the realities we have built up around us in order to try and find some truth in the reality we inhabit.