«What is happiness?»

In 1776 the Declaration of Independence named "the pursuit of Happiness" next to life and liberty. In 1938 Harvard began following a group of young men to find out what keeps people healthy and happy over a lifetime. Its most quoted finding is that good relationships keep people healthier and happier. Both stories are where this happiness wall art begins: everybody wants it, and nobody agrees what it looks like.

Three thought clouds float across the top of a pale canvas, drawn in thin black outline. One holds a sleek sports car with two people inside, one a couple kissing, one a family walking hand in hand with their children. Below them a group of friends hugs, and a lone figure spreads its arms on a hill. The background fades from white to black as it goes down.

In the middle sits a bearded, muscular figure in stone-grey tones, hands clasped over his head. His body is sliced into strips that slip sideways, like a glitch, and the lower half turns pale and flips upside down. At the bottom, on the black, the clouds return as upside-down white line drawings of faces, hands and objects that are harder to read. Small blocks of blue, yellow, red, green and pink are scattered across the grey.

The coloured blocks are a nod to Mondrian, whose Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow dates from 1930. Lichtenstein's Look Mickey (1961) put comic speech balloons on canvas, and I like how a cloud holds a whole life in a few outlines.

This is an original pop art painting in oil and acrylic on canvas, 100 x 90 cm, from 2022. As happiness wall art it is mixed media and hangs well as pop art for living room walls. Most of my original paintings are already in private collections, but I paint originals to order in any size. To ask about this one, message me on Instagram or by email. A hand-finished lithograph of this work exists too, and you can order it through Instagram or email.