ABSTRACT
The issues surrounding the usage of the term ‘lesbian artist’ leave me feeling confused as I can see many arguments for and against. When, in 1992, my painting Erect was selected by the National Portrait Gallery for the poster advertising the BP Awards, no mention was made of my sexual orientation other than on the application form. There was a question which asked what my relationship was to the people depicted in the painting and I wrote ‘self-portrait with partner’. The painting (Figure 8.1) was displayed on the posters as in the Gallery with no explanation as to its reasons for being and I like to hope that it was selected because it was a strong and interesting painting. If anyone were so interested in it that they wished to understand why I painted it then they wrote to me care of the Gallery, which they did by the dozen.
