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Art: The Epitome of Escapism

Kekeli Agbozo, LL.B Student, Warwick Law School

This piece reflects on an encounter with the Artist in Residence (Sociology and Law), Steeldoor Studios, who visited the University of Warwick in February 2026 to speak with Law, Sociology, and Criminology students.

Rethinking Our Understanding of Prison

What is our understanding of prison? Is it merely a correctional facility a place where wrongdoers are punished and removed from society? Or is it something deeper: a space of suffering, isolation, and complexity?

Public and media narratives often portray prisons as institutions that are not punitive enough. For example, a 2019 opinion piece in The Sun described UK prisons as “cushy,” suggesting that prisoners enjoy luxuries unavailable to law-abiding citizens. Such portrayals shape public perception, often in sensationalist ways.

However, prisons remain largely hidden from public view. As a result, much of what we “know” is filtered through media narratives rather than lived experience. To develop a more accurate understanding, it is essential to listen to those who have experienced incarceration firsthand.

Steeldoor Studios offers such a perspective. Having spent decades within the prison system beginning as early as his teenage years—he uses art and writing to communicate the psychological and emotional realities of imprisonment. I had the opportunity to meet him during a guest lecture in the Sociology module Punishment, Justice and Control. This article reflects on his work and insights.

“Blue Man”: The Psychological Weight of Incarceration

In Blue Man, we encounter a striking portrait: a figure whose face is replaced by the image of a man screaming inside a prison cell. The composition suggests that imprisonment extends beyond physical confinement it becomes internalised within the mind.

The dominant blue tones evoke sorrow, isolation, and emotional coldness. The colour saturates both the figure and the surrounding space, reinforcing a sense of stagnation and despair.

The artist’s description highlights another crucial dimension: the prevalence of mental health issues within prisons. Research by the Prison Reform Trust indicates that 71% of women and 47% of men in UK prisons report mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, and psychosis.

Blue Man also speaks to the paradox of prison space. While overcrowding limits privacy, moments of isolation can be equally distressing. When external distractions disappear, individuals are left alone with memory, regret, anger, and trauma. The screaming figure within the skull symbolises this internal confrontation—the inescapable presence of one’s past.

Steeldoor Studios describes prison not as a place of comfort, but as a “revolving door”: a system marked by overcrowding, drug use, and hostility, where rehabilitation is often discussed more than it is practised. In his view, prisons can function as political tools, demonstrating toughness on crime while offering limited opportunities for genuine transformation.

Art as Escape: “Green Dreams 3”

If Blue Man captures entrapment, Green Dreams 3 offers a vision of escape.

The painting depicts a figure stepping out of a prison cell and into a canvas, leaving behind both the physical space and the prison uniform. The discarded clothing symbolises a shedding of identity, while the exposed body suggests vulnerability and rebirth.

As the artist explains:

“The figure removes his prison uniform and escapes through the canvas into a fantasy world of freedom, the process of painting is the very epitome of escapism.”

Here, green replaces blue. It signifies growth, renewal, and possibility. Although the prison walls remain visible, the canvas introduces depth, a pathway beyond confinement.

Art as Therapy and Resistance

Art, in this context, is not merely aesthetic it is therapeutic. Scholars such as Cathy Malchiodi argue that creative expression allows individuals to process trauma that may be difficult to articulate through words.

For Steeldoor Studios, art became a form of catharsis. His prison cell transformed into a studio, where he painted in the early hours of the morning. Through this process, he confronted unresolved emotions and reclaimed a sense of agency.

Importantly, he distinguishes between formal prison art classes and authentic artistic practice. While institutional programmes often focus on structured learning such as colour theory, they may restrict genuine creative expression. This reflects what Leonidas Cheliotis terms “decorative justice”: the masking of deeper systemic issues behind superficial gestures of reform.

For individuals shaped by violence, neglect, or instability, art provides an alternative language, one that enables expression, reflection, and transformation beyond cycles of crime.

Conclusion

Through works like Blue Man and Green Dreams 3, Steeldoor Studios offers both a critique of the prison system and a testament to the transformative power of art.

His paintings reveal the psychological burden of incarceration while also demonstrating that even within the most restrictive environments, spaces for introspection, vulnerability, and growth can exist.

Ultimately, art becomes more than expression it becomes escape, resistance, and, perhaps most importantly, a pathway to healing.