Susan Robson

'It's impolite to stare, they say, yet the human face is fascinating - tells you most about a person, what they're thinking, what they're thinking about you. If you stare at someone in the street they're not inviting your attention, they're not volunteering that information. Perhaps it's voyeurism. Look at chimpanzees, it can be a matter of survival for them and we're not so very far. And so I paint portraits, mostly, which gives me an excuse to stare - in the nicest possible way'.