Painterly portraits with dramatic elements and unique colour compositions are characteristic of Vee Speers' work. In The Birthday Party, we encounter her theatrical portraits of costumed children on their way to an imaginary celebration. Speers came up with the idea for the project during her daughter’s birthday party and considers it to be partly autobiographical, drawing from her own childhood memories in Australia. Against a timeless background, Speers' portraits of children's dress-up are as whimsical as they are threatening. According to Speers, childhood games reflect roles in the adult world, such as father, mother, nurse or soldier.