Lightness of Being (Series 3 No. 1) by Chris Levine is a serene and contemplative portrait that distills presence into pure stillness. The sitter appears with eyes gently closed, suspended in a moment of inward focus. The artist isolates the figure against a pale, near-weightless background, allowing the viewer to encounter the portrait as both an image of authority and a meditation on humanity. The delicate flush of colour across the face, the controlled highlights on the pearls, and the soft radiance of the fur-lined garment all reveal the artist’s command of tone, light, and emotional subtlety.

The silkscreen process—enhanced with fluoro pigments—gives the work a luminous, atmospheric quality. Light seems to emanate from within the print itself, shifting slightly as one moves around it. This interplay between surface and depth contributes to a sense of quiet transcendence: the sitter is at once regal and vulnerable, monumental and intimate.

Within the artist’s wider practice, Lightness of Being has become one of the defining explorations of stillness, aura, and the unseen energies that surround an individual. Series 3 No. 1 deepens that investigation, merging traditional portraiture with contemporary printing techniques to create an image that feels both iconic and deeply human. It is a work that invites contemplation—a portrait not of outward expression but of inner light.