During his residency at the privately run Da Luz Camacho Residency, Paul McLachlan used the freedom from outcome-driven expectations to pursue a series of experimental directions, each testing the possibilities of figuration, symbolism, and cultural reference.

The Multitudes extended his ongoing investigation into the figure, pushing towards an interwoven all-overism where silver-leafed forms jostle, overlap, and compress. These crowded, sexualised figures explore the tensions of desire, anonymity, and collective movement, dissolving individuality into a restless, homogenised mass.

Birdland, though never fully realised, served as a generative blueprint. Its unresolved motifs seeded later collaborations with The Blake Society, demonstrating the way provisional ideas can become fertile ground for new developments.

The Ascent, a silver-ink lithograph commissioned by the residency host, reflected on the medieval histories of the Algarve while drawing parallels to subterranean and underground cultures. The work fused local context with countercultural sensibilities, aligning past structures of secrecy with contemporary currents of resistance.

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