My work has always been concerned with the human condition. I believe in the saying that an artist job is to mirror the world. My early work was inspired by images from obvious dramatic newsworthy incidents. This had a strong shock value but I felt they suffered from a more immediate rather than a lasting effect on the viewer. With this in mind and the realisation that sometimes the most life changing moment happens quietly my paintings began to change. As artists, even on any human level we should be aware that someone’s universe ends not with a bang but with a whimper. How important the small things are, a brief glimpse, the slightest touch, the perfect word. Having experienced tremendous emotions that have shaped me, contained in micro-seconds in time I have focused my art on mirroring those.
The scenes are mainly interiors, often cramped rooms containing the situation/event and this is further framed by the canvas edge which can evoke a tension in the viewer.
Early works began with saturated solutions of paint dripping down the canvas creating a loosely controlled base undercoat of transparent colours. This would then be worked over with opaque layers forming the image. The loose freedom of the dripping base has been tightened up in recent paintings but used still on occasions. In college I began creating a separate image under the painting. This was achieved by first drawing with glue in relief on the blank canvas. The dripping paint would react to the relief text/image, making it flow in a semi controlled manner. Once this dried a second image could be painted on top. Sometimes the images were complimentary and other times in contrast.
Most of my paintings will feature the underlying text or second image. The viewer is often drawn in by the innate need to decipher the under-image/text (which may not be easily read) and as a result spends more time with my work.
One of my early pieces “The Betrayer” shows a figure in a bedroom reading. He is half dressed and sits on the bed, running his hand through his hair. The text under the image is a diary extract written by a girl. This piece was the forerunner of the change from a glue under-image to text.
Another piece called “Prelude to a lie” shows a couple by a tree with a lake in the background. The male is laughing, where as the female character has her head hung low and hand raised to brush back her hair. Viewers will differ on who they believe is about to tell the lie. This was an attempt to catch a small catalyst moment in time.
Two early self-portraits, (both containing underlying text) have very strong influences in classical painting. “A different light” and “A Pale Fire”. “A different light” contains a painting within the painting. “The Death of Marat” by Jacques-Louis David dominates most of the picture surface. It operates as the background of the painting with the artist (myself) working in front, drawing the viewer. The second contains myself in a relaxed pose with an extinguished candle and a reflective sphere in my hand. Quite often my self-portraits are about “me the artist” and my other works are a reflection of me the person.
Images with gold leaf
I coupled this with my love of the works of the Pre-Raphaelites. Their inspiration from literature was part of it, but mainly I was drawn to the emotional content in their figures. “The Lady of Shallot “is a painting I visit again and again whenever I am in London and still leaves me experiencing Stendhal's syndrome*. More than half my visit time at the gallery is spent in front of that one piece. As an artist I paint for the day when I or another viewer experiences that with my work.
The Lady of Shallot by J. W. Waterhouse
I have been careful not to limit my palette however it has been influenced by certain items/symbols etc. that feature in my work, mainly the peacock feather (the wide variety of colours in this does allow great freedom) and the “All seeing eye”. These two symbols in my work act as polar opposites for me. The peacocks feather containing an eye that is decorative rather than functional (represents those who refuse to see the world) and the “all seeing eye” is a symbol for those people that do (usually artists, writers etc). My inclusion of them both is a constant reminder to myself and those that follow my art of the need to see the world in a grain of sand and god in the details.
*is a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly beautiful or a large amount of art is in a single place. The term can also be used to describe a similar reaction to a surfeit of choice in other circumstances, e.g. when confronted with immense beauty in the natural world.
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