I Wanna Be You

I am very interested in how figures pass through space. In this instance not necessarily a traditional landscape but a construct. Although the text on this painting alludes to the scene being set in London, the sharp yet over exaggerated angular background could represent any metropolis. With this painting I wanted to depict just how much do you need to attain to truly have enough and how much can be lost within a life that has become isolated. The inclusion of the macaw parrot tethered to the man’s hand holds what could be seen as his last positive vestige of confidence, as he walks towards a small memory of someone from his past or perhaps a totem signifying his anxieties and desires towards his future.

I Wanna Be Yours Acrylic on Canvas 60cm x 60cm 

Social Subterfuge

With this painting I am looking into the notion of how people can use objects to sustain and attain recognition thus trying to gain or maintain stability within an exceptionally highly pressurised career situation. The precarious nature of the trapeze artist is an illustration of the fine line in which the individual is treading during day-to-day life. In a dog eats dog world the acquisition and display of an object steeped in history and class could offer important keys to important doors.  Ultimately in this painting I have used the piano as an example to indicate how people can use inanimate objects to often aspire towards grandiose ideals.  The thread that runs through this painting is one of a knife-edge using the totems and text to establish the fact that this is quite possibly a mere strategy to win friends and influence people.

Social Subterfuge Acrylic on Canvas 60cm x 80cm 

Flash Harry

I chose a fairly narrow canvas for this particular work because I wanted to establish physical limits upon how I could orchestrate the composition right from the start. It is always interesting to take a step back and look at different sides of social interaction. In this instance the pageantry and wooing in the act of courtship and also the fragility and vulnerability behind the bravado a person establishes in the quest for a mate.

The peacock is the wall of confidence, although not showing its feathers it turns away demure and seemingly disinterested.  The boy is exaggerated reality, tired, doubt ridden and disillusioned by the façade he has established. Although outwardly the peacock seems strong, through the use of totems and text the whole situation is far from an elaborate display, but seems actually exceptionally fragile.  

Flash Harry Acrylic on Canvas 90cm x 76cm

A Good Christian Boy

With this painting I wanted to examine posture and in turn portray how we often judge hastily on outward appearances. As with some of the other canvases within my new body of work, I am enjoying experimenting with ambiguity.  This young man is dressed in the uniform of his time. Perhaps we are privy to a moment of penance, remorse, an act of self-preservation or is this an image of a person in mourning? I was interested in using a religious element both within the title and composition, including a crucifix rolling through the youngster’s fingers. With this painting I wanted to explore several different aspects of a young modern man’s vulnerability together with the contradictory element of the swagger of youth, an uncomfortable ease that could be seen as lacklustre, but ultimately intimidating.

A Good Christian Boy Acrylic on Canvas 60cm x 60cm

Blood Has to Boil Before Skin Can Thicken

At its core this painting is about happenstance, two ex lovers crossing paths. I wanted to continue the exploration of people moving within environments, which are more artificially constructed, mirroring their emotional states with the use of totems, cyphers and text. This is a brief encounter, perhaps a chance meeting, a trigger of the idealistic side of the past and what could have been between these two young people. This is counter balanced by their bitterness towards one another using a seemingly innocent sentence ‘See you next Tuesday” which due to the parlance of our times has been used as camouflage for a rather more aggressive word. Brave faces from these two but blood has to boil before skin can thicken.

Blood Has to Boil Before Skin Can Thicken Acrylic on Canvas 60cm x 60cm