Celia Making Tea
Signed Print

In this 1982 print we see Hockney experimenting with photo collage once again, this time choosing to put his focus on close friend and muse Celia Birtwell. After almost two decades of painting, drawing and printing her likeness here we see him trying to capture it through a lens, moved incrementally each time to create a composite image of an intimate scene. With its golden brown and yellow tones the image is suffused with warmth which is only heightened by the title, evoking the cosiness of close friendship. Birtwell is only shown in profile and we are denied a view of her striking features however we can recognise the curls of her hair and the long flowing dress of the kind she favours in many of Hockney’s portraits of her. She also appears to be deep in conversation with a figure who sits on a patterned bedspread, possibly waiting for the cup of tea. While this is one of Hockney’s more subtle photo collages it serves to demonstrate his fascination with perspective and perception. By taking multiple photographs of the same scene the artist was able to convey how his eyes ‘feel space’.