#Douma, a rose, acrylic paint, glass paint, foil, gold leaf on canvas, 46x61cm, 2013 It would be nice to read this as kitsch, rather than saturated. In London many still could in 2013. As I type this five years on from witnessing the sickening photographic images of child corpses, following chemical weapons being used against civilians in Syria, it is still going on. We have become familiar with this news. Whilst continuing to paint in the studio I began working on Red Line, a larger scale piece for outside. Detail #Douma, a rose, acrylic paint, glass paint, foil, gold leaf on canvas, 46x61cm, 2013
Displaced Tryptich, oil, acrylic and foil on board, 3 20x25cm with 7cm gap, 2013 First I painted them all with backgrounds, then smeared paint from other pieces I was working on, onto these new bases. The smudges took a life of their own, swimming or flying across their unfamiliar terrain. Detail Displaced Tryptich, oil, acrylic and foil on board, 3 20x25cm with 7cm gap, 2013
Unlikely Duo, acrylic on canvas, 2 30x30cm with 10cm gap, 2013 This diptych was part of a cluster of paintings created at a similar time: overlapping or in close succession. This was made in Bermondsey, London, as were the ones that follow until 2014. Detail - Unlikely Duo, acrylic on canvas
'Step by Step', acrylic paint and foils. 20x20cm, 2013 A triptych showing the material process behind some of these works, in three steps. It’s not quite that straightforward but you get the gist. These were made in Bermondsey. Detail, Step by Step, acrylic paint and foils. 20x20cm, 2013
Pulse, mixed media on canvas, 200x170cm, 2013 For ‘Pulse’ I primed the canvas but didn’t stretch it, putting it on the floor, throwing and drizzling paint and making butterfly prints by folding parts of the canvas, adding foils and leaving it set, across a few sessions. Later I worked into the paint explosion more studiously. When it was on the wall, complete but not yet fully stretched, I watched it moving in the breeze, it looked like a beating heart; I also think of it as a country. Pulse, details. Made in Bermondsey, London
Scab details, acrylic paint, water based paint, spray paint, foils and varnish on canvas, 25 x 25cm, 2013 In ‘Scabs’ I layered up thick paint, big dollops on dollops then sealed the surfaces with guilding foils, spray paints and varnishes. The paints set whilst I worked on other pieces - Habibi, Snow and Aura (in that order), in spring 2013. I’d check on the smaller pieces from time to time, like a child checking whether a scab is OK to pick off yet. It was only when they were ready to have the surfaces removed and worked into that I noticed their scab-likeness. As well as thinking of them as a metaphor of how people heal emotionally and physically I thought of picket lines. The paintings are titled: ‘scab ‘ ’scab scab’ ‘scab scab scab’ ‘scab scab scab scab’ ‘scab scab scab scab scab’ ‘scab scab scab scab scab scab’ ‘scab scab scab scab scab scab scab’ Those that break the picket lines, why do they do it? What are they protecting, or afraid of? I’d not long been to see Billy Elliot the musical, in which there was a scene of people maintaining their protest screaming “Scab!” at those going to work during the coal minors strike in the mid-eighties in North East England. Well, you would hope they had good reasons. I was also thinking of the wider world, of human greed and corruption being like a disease, and of land and body as similar - if you zoom out from a landscape and close to a skin or further into a body, areas can often look alike. In Scabs the black, gold and pink are for oily; with Aura I'm using the colours more as a reference to light. Foils are used in Scabs, which set quite hard. Scabs, acrylic paint, water based paint, spray paint, foils and varnish on canvas 25 x 25cm, 2013 Scab detail. The scabs were all made in Bermondsey in London in 2013 (V22 studios)
Aura, acrylic paint, gouache, poster paint, spray paint, silver leaf and foil on canvas, 100x100 cm, 2013 Aura is a painting I made to represent a psychological idea in a way that can be seen. The concept is about personal barriers and boundaries. I imagined a membrane that can be used to help preserve the self in difficult situations or from elements in life that can wear you down. Sometimes when people have a lot of exposure to suffering they can become desensitised or shut themselves off. I believe this can be reduced through a psychological protection whereby you can allow people in, you are accessible, in touch and connected, but not overly exposed. You have multiple layers. If a situation is particularly hard the membrane can become denser, with reflective fragments, allowing you to rest and have some privacy without changing environment. When contact is healthy and you are in a place that feels safe the membrane can be more transparent, softer, welcoming and warm. In work as a supervisor for therapists and social workers I have at times encouraged them to develop their own aura, perhaps wearing something to remind them of this throughout the day. It is a method I use myself and have found helpful in many contexts - as a therapist exposed to transference, projection and trauma; and as a person navigating the world. It's particularly useful on the London underground in rush hour. The painting went to a new home yesterday, which prompted this post. It was made at a similar time to Habibi, and Snow (below) these have the same scale and similar materials. Aura detail, and Habibi, Snow and Aura, mixed media on canvas, 100x100cm, 2013, made in Bermondsey, London
More Alike I, II, III, mixed media on canvas, 3 60x60cm paintings (and installation art), 2013 The quote "We are more alike than unlike" (Maya Angelou), was used as a title for this painting trio made in spring 2013, Bermondsey, London. The works have a multitude of coloured layers beneath sealed and then hacked into surfaces of black, red and white. In the above photograph they form part of The Birthday Projects, 2013, London event, which shared preparatory work for 'Red Line', installation made the following week. Prior to the surfaces being damaged, this was quite a polished, conceptual piece of work that sat smugly in tact for a couple of weeks. After the hacking / action painting I found it more interesting and authentic. More Alike II, acrylic paint, gouache, poster paints, spray paints, varnish on canvas 60x60cm, 2013
Transmute, acrylic on canvas, both 50 x 50cm, 2013 My plan for the next family of paintings included deep layers with damaged top surfaces. Transmute was not part of the plan, but came from working toward it. Whilst making the base I really enjoyed the paint and brush strokes and given the hard week it was, let myself do just that. Looking at the resulting painting made me laugh and know it was complete. Transmute detail
Blood Paintings I, II, 30x30 (2012) and below III 50x60 cm (2013), mixed media on canvas. Bermondsey, London.
boundaries / borders, tracking / mapping, land / body terrain |
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