Created during the 2020 lockdown, Two Dancers and a Bird reflects Derek Ogbourne’s instinctive, tactile approach to painting during this introspective period. Working entirely with his fingers, Ogbourne formed the figures through dense gestures of colour — sculpting oil paint into rhythm and motion rather than line and contour.

Against a calm, neutral background, two loosely entwined forms appear to move in balance, their energy captured in thick sweeps of pigment. Above them, a small bird arcs across the composition, lending a fleeting sense of grace and release. The result is both playful and profound — a visual dance between connection and freedom, rendered through pure touch and intuition.

Ogbourne’s Lockdown Series (2020) emerged from a period of enforced stillness yet brims with movement and vitality. After years exploring film, performance, and mechanical installation, these works mark a rediscovery of the body as instrument and painting as performance.

Two Dancers  exemplifies this renewed physical engagement. The figures seem to materialise through instinct rather than design, echoing Ogbourne’s broader fascination with perception and transformation — themes central to his acclaimed Museum of Optography (2007–2016) and later Blue Series (2023).

Each painting in the Lockdown Series is a one-of-one creation, uniquely hand-formed and emotionally charged. Two Dancers and a Bird stands out for its lyrical composition — a celebration of movement, intimacy, and imagination emerging from solitude.