Liam Payne Was Pouring Heartache Into Horrifying Paintings Before Death — Including Canvas That Showed How He Felt 'Trapped in Glass'
Two weeks after Liam Payne's death, the art he left behind shows how he felt trapped by fame.
Oct. 29 2024, Published 8:39 a.m. ET
Tormented Liam Payne felt like a lonely bug trapped in a glass jar as he struggled to cope with the global fame that swirled around him.
The star poured out his anguish in a painting tackling the burden of loneliness, RadarOnline can reveal.
Liam said of the Lonely Bug work: 'It’s all kind of based on lockdown - a little bit of fame twisted in there as well, and just kind of how I was feeling at the start of this.'
A print of the daub called 'No Escape Lonely Bug' is currently for sale on auction site eBay for $5,200 as the owner tries to cash in on the UK-born One Direction star's shocking, drug-fuelled death in Argentina earlier this month.
Liam's art addresses the burden of fame and asks if people are only truly happy as children.
Liam Payne's painting showed he felt like a lonely bug trapped in a glass jar as he struggled to cope with the storm of global fame swirling around him.
The work shows a humanoid creature with wings trapped in the glass bubble amid dark clouds with a finger pointing at the trapped creature – indicated how Liam, who died aged just 31 after falling from a hotel room balcony with a cocktail of drugs, including cocaine in his system, left about his life.
Liam said of the Lonely Bug work: “It’s all kind of based on lockdown - a little bit of fame twisted in there as well, and just kind of how I was feeling at the start of this.
Liam Payne's art addresses the burden fame and asks if people are only truly happy as children.
“I think a lot of us would’ve been feeling quite the same," he added, before sharing that he made a character that “gets locked in his cage who can [usually] fly but can no longer fly and now he’s stuck."
And publicity release for the art revealed: "Safe, vulnerable, childlike, hopeful: It’s folklore that pop stars remain emotionally grounded in the time they became famous. Shielded in a childlike state.
‘Lonely Bug,’ Liam Payne’s artwork, seeks to capture the emotions and experiences of everyone as one’s own existence withdrew to a childlike simplicity.
Concepted by Liam Payne, Zedd and Sillygabe during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 when all of us, no matter who we are, became confined to our own four walls.
"Lonely Bug seeks to capture the emotions and experiences of everyone, as our own existence withdrew to a childlike simplicity. A moment in time that allowed us to reflect on what we need to be happy. A child is filled with hope and anticipation, anything is possible.
Items believed to be narcotics paraphernalia – including white powder and aluminum foil – were among the items found there by police.
"Dreams can come true. That moment of innocence that every child is born with before any illusions get shattered, their love never torn apart. Is this true happiness? Do not let anyone dampen the child in you."
We can also reveal the staff at the Buenos Aires hotel where Liam died are being investigated on suspicion of supplying him with drugs.
The staff at the Buenos Aires hotel where Liam Payne died are being investigated on suspicion of supplying him with drugs.
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His hotel room was found in a shambolic state, with the TV screen smashed and drink and drug debris littering the suite.
Items believed to be narcotics paraphernalia - including white powder and aluminum foil - were among the items found there by police. A cleaner and another member of staff at the Casa Sur hotel are being investigated by police on suspicion of supplying drugs to Payne, who was from the city of Wolverhampton.
Initial toxicology reports said that Liam Payne had multiple drugs, including crack cocaine and methamphetamine, in his system when he fell to his death.
Initial toxicology reports said that the father-of-one had multiple drugs, including crack cocaine and methamphetamine, in his system when he fell to his death.
A cocktail of drugs called “pink cocaine” – containing methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA – had been found during a partial autopsy, along with crack cocaine and benzodiazepine.
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