PORTRAITS
Roxana Halls' portrait of Dr. Pam Hogg is currently exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, London in The Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award from the 10 July - 12 October 2025.
Pam Hogg and I devised her pose together during an intensive collaborative discussion at her London studio in May 2023. We spoke at length about her process from her earliest pieces to her most recent, and specifically the tools she employs and her relationship to them. I'm keen to explore how gesture can communicate intention, and Pam is here clasping her favourite scissors both enacting cutting in one hand and cradling them lightly in the other; there is equal purpose as there is tenderness.
The first of two small scale oil studies I made while exploring alternative poses for this portrait was exhibited in Face to Face : a Celebration of Portraiture at Marlborough Gallery London in 2023.
In this final full scale portrait Pam is flanked by some of her incredible creations - including a 90's bodysuit and her piece Prophesy from the Sarah Lucas curated exhibition Big Women in 2023. Each of her flamboyant, visionary pieces is framed within a diamond grid, reflecting the form of the scissors blades while suggesting something of the underlying rigor and precision of Pam's work.
In September 2022 I walked for Pam during London Fashion Week for her collection My Profession Is Dreaming wearing a jumpsuit she created specially for me. I've included a small self portrait wearing this as a form of 'signature' in the lower right corner of the portrait.
I wanted to capture in my stylised portrait of Pam the dynamism, beauty and power of a women who greatly inspires me as someone who is still at the forefront of avant-garde fashion in Britain and is still so vitally disruptive, unconventional and productive after four decades in the industry.
Pam Hogg’s work has changed the traditional concepts of femininity since she began in the early 80s. Fearless, inventive, and provocative are words describing both her distinctive designs and her own iconic persona. Pam Hogg continues to create, direct, produce and style her collections and exhibition works. Her clothes are requested by artists and celebrities like Kate Moss, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Beyonce.