This series was created in response to the historical tradition of portrait miniatures, which flourished from the early 16th century until the mid-18th century with the advent of photography, to which she was first attracted at the Wallace Collection, London.What interested the artist in particular was the private, secretive way of presenting of miniatures, often displayed in cabinets or hidden under leather flaps for protection, responding to curiosity and inquisitiveness in a viewer. Unlike the traditional portrait artists, Flannigan is not interested in capturing specific likenesses, but has instead for many years focused on creating fictional portraits, that attempt to give a tangible form to an idea. Her characters often sit within what would be deemed the 'Theatre of the Absurd', drawing on character archetypes.

Moyna Flannigan, b. 1962

Born in Kirkcaldy, Flannigan studied at Edinburgh College of Art and at Yale University School of Art. Initially, she painted in an abstract style but is now best known for her fictional portraits, typically based on observations of middle-class society whilst playing typical tragicomedic characters. Her influences are as diverse as the sculpture of Giacometti, the films of Tarkovsky and the frescoes of Masaccio. Flannigan's series of portrait miniatures Once upon our time was commissioned by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and exhibited there in 2004. In 2006 she was selected for the Mount Stuart visual arts residency and her work A Foot Print in the Hall was shown as an intervention in the historical collection at Mount Stuart. New work shown at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 2019 revealed she had taken a new direction, cutting up and collaging drawings and paintings. She taught at Glasgow School of Art 1995-2005 and is now a teaching fellow at ECA.