A viral hit and loved by Tracey Emin: the woman who took up art at 88 – and became an Instagram sensation

Christine Hazell has progressive memory loss yet now has four shows in the works, thanks to these raw, untutored drawings of her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren – and Kizzy the dog

In his four decades as a curator, publisher and gallerist, Matthew Higgs has supported many artists’ careers, including those of his contemporaries Jeremy Deller, Martin Creed and Peter Doig when they emerged in the early 1990s.

Higgs also champions artists from alternative backgrounds – those who are self-taught, say, or have developmental or cognitive impairment – and his latest discovery is one such person. Christine Hazell is 88, has progressive memory loss, and had never made art until six months ago. She has since created more than 200 drawings, which have rapidly gone viral on Instagram, inspired a following, and will feature in four scheduled exhibitions. She is also Higgs’s mother.