I'm Back...

I would firstly like to apologize for my silence the past few months, my time had been taken up by a dissertation and general stress of being in my final year of University.

My Practice has changed dramatically over the last few months, so below is a new body of work and Artist statement, enjoy!

I consider my practice as contemporary painting, through which I explore the overlay of past and present, fact and fiction and physical and metaphysical. My work traces the parallels between the ancient philosophical and religious understanding of past cultures and current developments within the study of science. Through this subject area I hope to create work that operates within a liminal space. Scientific research forms part of a grand narrative of myth and history, which continues to grow. Throughout history every civilisation has attempted to explain why and how we exist, form the Ancient Greek belief in elemental gods, to the study of Astrology in the Renaissance. It is a subject area with endless source material from many subject areas and, as an artist this provides much inspiration and possible outcomes.

Although my preferred medium is painting, my artwork lies between the disciplines of painting and sculpture. The tactility of paint and surface textures are particularly important to me; I saturate the canvas with traditional materials such as oil paints and painting mediums, but I also use less conventional materials such as sand, emulsion and building materials. I am interested in an alchemic approach to painting which realises itself in the form of heavy layering of materials to create a gravitational pull. Stylistically, my paintings are representational, but lie in the space between figuration and abstraction.

My current artworks involve the representation of the highly publicised scientific machine, the ‘Large Hadron Collider.’ Within the machinery I conceal iconography of medieval astrology charts, and also draw upon literature to reference past systems of belief that have now been discredited by modern science. I feel that as well as creating parallels between past and present; I explore relationships between microscopic and macroscopic. Through the representation of the ‘Large Hadron Collider,’ I make reference to the scientific search for the smallest form of matter; this is then contrasted with the depiction of astrological charts and diagrams to create a paradox. I feel that this series of paintings explores the role of history and mythology within a world more inclined to consider scientific thought over spiritual belief.

A Place of Beauty Amidst the Wild

Oil on Canvas.

Based on a walled garden on the small Island of Lindisfarne (off the coast of Northumberland). The garden seemed a peaceful area within a fragile yet harsh environment.

Back in the studio... First paintings...

"Imagined Mountain Range" Oil on Canvas.

I'm interested in creating places, these invented landscapes serve as myths. These places could exist, yet they show no specific features. I suppose what I'm doing is creating a place and then deconstructing it to its quintessential form, leaving only suggestiveness rather than certainty.



"Imagined Coastline" Oil on Canvas.

Although these places are nowhere in particular, I have drawn inspiration from the Northumberland coastline. I find Northumberland intriguing in both aesthetics and history. There are more castles in Northumberland than in any other county in England and this rich history still seems apparent today. As James Joyce once said "Places remember events..."

Paintings featured in Himalayan Sculpture Gardens

"Invented Places, Imagined Landscapes series" Oil on Canvas.

IMAGINED PLACES, INVENTED LANDSCAPES

Project 1 - Imagined Places, Invented Landscapes

Sometimes drawings don't always turn out the way that you expect. I've been working a lot in oil pastels lately, creating A3 sketches. They mainly focus on shape, colour and form, I like to see them as mindless or in a sense instinctual.
"I pursue no objectives, no tenancy, I have no programme, no style, no direction. I have no time for specialized concerns, working themes, or variations that lead to mastery. I steer clear of directions. I don't know what I want. I am non-commital, passive; I like the indefinite, the boundless; i like continual uncertaintly."
Gerhard Richter, 1964
Richter seems to sum up the direction with my drawings. When I began I was completely in his way of thinking, I simply did not know what i wanted. I created large drawings that, to be honest, I was very unsure about. So...I cut them up, into tiny sections. Richter did this himself, in a painting named Abstract Painting 825-II, he took 69 sections of the painting that interested him, and these minatures become works of art in their own right.
What I did was slightly different. I'm still very much interested in aspects of landscape, so when I cut up my drawings I noticed that some of the smaller sections bared much likeness to landscapes. I found this intriguing, these landscapes existed only my my mind, they were created unintentionally. I call them Imagined Places, Invented Landscapes.



From these snippets of drawings I began painting a series of oil paintings based of the landscapes within the drawings. I can see parallels between my invented landscapes and mythology, the sense of somewhere in between past and present, reality and fantasy.

TIME. SPACE. MEMORY.

Time
So, time. Well time is both inconceivable and yet very reliable. We know that the Earth was created around 4.5 billion years ago but it has only been 200, 000 since humans have started looking the way that we do today. In the time between this saw the formation of the Earth; the hardening of the crust, the development of continents and oceans, dinosaurs, plant and animal life, and the evolution of humankind itself. But what happens if we travel even further back? Before the Earth, even before the Universe? We live in ignorance to conceive that time equates to year, month, day etc, it holds both everything that we know and everything that we will never know.
We map time through history. From primitive ages to ancient, to medieval and relatively recent, we have always recorded culture and society. But how do we know history exists? We have not been there; we have not experienced that way of life. It seems to many of us that history is more of a story than the ‘past.’ Of course we have proof that history exists through archaeology and science, and through found artefacts, but we will never truly understand the past. It is this uncertainty that intrigues me.
Tales of myths and legends from past cultures are held within the void between history and fantasy. One particular example that intrigues me is Homer’s Iliad. The tale which involves the destruction of the ancient city of Troy by the ancient Greeks has never been proven true, there has been a site found that could be the remains of the ancient city, but the evidence is not strong enough to be certain. Troy was not only subject to the will of the Greeks, but also, according to Homer, the will of the Gods. It is this overlapping of reality and myth that draws my attention.
I also find myself very interested in British history and legend. The tales of the legendary King Arthur and his knights seem to also breach the gap between reality and fiction. It is this gap, or uncertainty that I find myself interested in. My own longing for a sense of magic or the supernatural may have much to do with my need for understanding the world as something mysterious. It is the idea that only the Earth itself knows of what once was, what could or could not be.

Place
Place is a very interesting issue as a contemporary artist. We all have places that we feel we have an emotional tie to. Home is a good example. There is no place like home. When we think of home, we also think of all the things that make up that place, the people, buildings, and the ‘feel’ of the place becomes entwined within our perception.
I was brought up in the North East of England, and to me this will always be home. No matter where I go, I am always pulled back to the NE. Whether this is due to it being the location of my family, my friends or whether this is some kind of primal attachment, I will never truly understand.
I’m very interested in the history of the North East. From the Celts to the Romans, from a vast collection of Castle and priory ruins to the invading Norse Vikings, there are many examples of past cultures and invasions scattered across this part of England.
I particularly like the area Northumberland. Across this space there is the (Roman) Hadrian’s wall, towards the sea there are castles such as Bamburgh and Alnwick and on the small island of Lindisfarne we can see the ruins of a priory from the first significant Viking landing in the year 793. I find myself interested in the cultures of these peoples. Myths and legends, again, draw my interest, as well as religious issues.

Memory
I feel that memory is a very personal issue, as an artist I would not create a piece about my own past, my memory of an event or person. I feel this would be too much of an intrusion. Aside from that, I do not wish to create art about myself, I know myself. I’m more interested in what I don’t know.
For me, when I take on a new project it must be a path of discovery, nothing should be set in stone, no clear idea or form in mind. It’s a process of creating, reflecting, reading, adding etc. The most frustrating part of being an artist is that the journey will never end, one must learn to never accept a final conclusion, there is always room for further exploration.
So, being stubborn and private (ha!), how can I review the issue of memory without describing my own memories? Well I’m interested in the process of memory. Why do we remember something’s and not others? Why do memories fade over time? Memory is something very emotive, and it also can become something more physical. It can remind of a scent or the feel of an object. I’m also interested in the memories of others, and aspects of diary making.
Objects can hold memories, such as when you go to a charity shop and find a purse with a note inside, an old shopping list perhaps? The object suddenly comes to life, it holds something quite mysterious, something now forgotten

What makes a rock treasure?

Well today in the studio I created two new boxes. I am continuing to work with wax as my main medium for reasons previously stated, though my technique changes with every creation.
In the above piece, the base of the box was lined with various materials such as clay, seeds and a PVA mixture that added a plastic layer. I then poured wax to fill the box and proceeded to work and remove some wax. I think the use of layering creates links to the theory behind my work. Focusing on nature and how a landscape can change over years I feel the layers tie links with the layering of the Earth's surface, the way in which new buildings are built and older are buried, so does the wax become the soil and the clay that was once on the surface, such as many ruins, becomes clouded and lost.
My process also relates to archaeology, I dig into my artwork and discover things that had become lost. I think this adds to the ideology of what history is, after all without evidence history is just a story. It's this idea, or justification that times were different, and I relate this to the emotive senses of historical places. When approaching a historical setting the emotions fight, it is hard to grasp a sense of history, I think humans are beings that live in the moment, we are aware of history but for many of us it does not seem real. I am interested in in the way we interact with land when we know that the place is rooted in history. We pick up a rock from Pompeii and we have found treasure, but we walk past rocks outside our door everyday. What is the attraction and why? Is it to pay homage, respect or is it out of a sense of awe? These are key questions that I deal with within my practice.




As well as tying links between layer and landscape, I see another aesthetic link to the landscape. The surface of my artworks resemble the surface of a landscape, this was unintentional but funnily enough also unavoidable when working with wax. When looking down onto a piece of artwork it is clear to see the links between the contours of the wax and that of the Earth. How do I feel about this? Well this 'happening' is what I would refer to as a beautiful accident. I had not set out to achieve this but now it seems part of the work. I find it strange how sometimes the medium informs the artist of the ideology, but this dialogue is part of being an artist and I find that is always best to listen to the artwork.
I have talked a lot about wax... but what about paint? Well I have used earthy tones of diluted oils over the top of my work, currently I am more concerned about staining the wax rather than painting it. I am simply readjusting colour rather than fussing over painterly techniques. I tend to let the paint drip over the work, allowing it to seep into crevasses within the wax, it is a very free process. I place the paint at point A and it finds its own way to point B. Again, I could relate this to nature and landscape in the way in which old ruins become invaded my nature (the rain, sea and vegetation) but again I'd like to note that this link was not premeditated but it was only after completion of the artwork that I realized the link. Also, I would like to express that the ideas I have about my work is very much my own personal interpretation, artwork has a way of showing different concepts to different people and it is important to me that the audience are able to connect with the artwork in a way that they deem appropriate.
So, here I am again with the question what next? I feel that the boxes are not fully resolved yet, there are secrets yet to be unlocked, so I will continue to create until I find what I'm looking for... Whatever that is! I've also been working on a large scale painting (soon to be uploaded) that still needs to be completed. Many posts lined up over the next few days so keep reading on... as always comments would be great, feedback is always appreciated.