tonight, ashleyjohn—baptiste catches up with an old school friend, xavier leopold, who uses art as an expression of hope for a better life. this piece is called george floyd. i made this piece in the summer during a time when there was a lot of political, racial and social unrest. like many, 28—year—old xavier leopold from south london was deeply impacted by the killing of george floyd in the us earlier this year. his response — to paint about it. the words that he screamed out many many times were "i can't breathe", and that was enough to me to think to myself that i need to express this in a form of art to raise social awareness, racial awareness and to speak to my black people. it was only recently, during the first lockdown, that xavier discovered his passion for art. the impact of painting on his mental health has been life changing. it's sort of my way of keeping sane. it's one of the ways of therapy i can do indoors in the comfort of my own home, by myself. xavier has struggled since the death of his best friend, rio mcfarlane, who was fatally shot ten years ago in peckha