figure dressed in an orange hooded dressing gown and black leggings lies on a bed. One hand is to their face, and one holds a checkered piece of material. A third hand is holding a phone, at which they are gazing. At the foot of the bed is a second figure, dressed in black with a striped scar around their neck. Their hand is grasping the ankle of the figure in the bed, with the fingers wrapped all the way around. They are looking down at a phone in their other hand, which slightly illuminates their face — Salvatore of Lucan (b.1994), Lucy with 3 hands and me holding onto her Leg, 2019. © Salvatore of Lucan. Photo © National Gallery of Ireland, Photographer: Roy Hewson.

Salvatore of Lucan: Highly Commended

Lucy with 3 hands and me holding onto her leg, 2019

Oil on canvas, 250 x 130 cm

'Lucy with 3 hands and me holding onto her leg is a painting about my relationship with Lucy. Relationships are hard work. Is one’s love best for another? Here, we are depicted relaxing. I am at the foot of the bed plugging my phone in to charge. My hand is on her foot. She is depicted with three hands: one on her face, one holding a hanky and the other on her phone. The painting’s composition was influenced by a diagram of a flower.’

Salvatore of Lucan is of mixed-race: half Irish and half Bangladeshi. He was raised by his mother, a single parent, who lives with her mother and his younger sister. He mainly makes work about his own life, often figurative domestic scenes. He always wants to represent himself as accurately as possible. Throughout his life, he has been asked where he is from, to which he has always replied ‘Lucan’. This is why he is called Salvatore of Lucan, to represent himself more accurately. Since graduating from NCAD in 2016, he has been living and working in Dublin.

Go back to the shortlisted works

See the next work, by Paul MacCormaic