Part of the New Light Prize Exhibition 2020

Vic Harris is a retired psychiatrist from Lancashire. Following his retirement in 2009, he taught himself to paint and has since specialised in portraits. He has exhibited in nine national competitions in London and other venues across the UK. Most of his paintings are captured in time-lapse videos that appear on his YouTube channel, which has had nearly 2 million views and 23,000 subscribers.

Perhaps because of his background in psychiatry and his interest in the person and their inner world, when painting a portrait Vic aims to capture an expression or emotion in the sitter that is poignant but may be fleeting and revelatory. Since March 2020, he has mitigated the threat of the pandemic by painting free portraits for NHS staff who have risked their health for the sake of others.