[citation needed] Burman painted with oil, acrylic, ink, and wax crayon mixed with egg yolk and vinegar on thick paper to produce a leathery surface.
[1] Shortly before his death, Burman began to work in a new medium, creating a series of Papier-mâché figures / puppets – a return in three dimensions to earlier themes ('Leather Face', 'Uncle Tic Tac' and 'Tommy Rawhead').
"[2]His early paintings are described by the critic Peter Webb as: "meticulous and controversial images which addressed his ideas on women's sexuality; provocative schoolgirls on black leather sofas; malevolent nudes clutching Victorian dolls; and threatening femme fatales grasping severed male heads".
[3] In 1991, Burman won the Hunting Group / The Observer award with his painting 'Manac Es', inspired by the Whitechapel murders as fictionalised in Iain Sinclair's first novel 'White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings'.
[2] During his lifetime, Burman had nine solo exhibitions:[citation needed] John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress was based upon a work that is said to be placed in American hotel bedrooms because it is too dull for anyone to steal it.