Personal Topographies
(The Self-Isolation Residency)
Dunoon Burgh Hall Gallery,
Dunoon Scotland 2021.
This reflection also led to the revelation that during the decades travelling as an artist that I have accrued an internal geography of images and notions regarding people, places and experiences which I could draw upon during lockdown. These musings have led onto the body of work which I refer to as ‘Personal Topographies’. wherein the painting are appositely ‘suggestive’ of the idiom of landscape whist not being distinctly indicative of it.
(The Self-Isolation Residency)
Dunoon Burgh Hall Gallery,
Dunoon Scotland 2021.
This reflection also led to the revelation that during the decades travelling as an artist that I have accrued an internal geography of images and notions regarding people, places and experiences which I could draw upon during lockdown. These musings have led onto the body of work which I refer to as ‘Personal Topographies’. wherein the painting are appositely ‘suggestive’ of the idiom of landscape whist not being distinctly indicative of it.
These paintings are a way of demonstrating the illusion or ideas, places and histories as viewed through the lens of my critical thinking and my paint brush. They are an expressions of my psyche’s internal landscape. Although very personal paintings, I believe they have a wide appeal via their suggested familiarity to an audience which has shared a similar experience of remoteness during lockdown.
The works are also very much about paint. Although there is a suggestion of imagery there in no intention to conceal the painterliness of the work, indeed it's presence is key to the works success owing a great deal to my previous series, 'Carved from this Land'. This nature also draws on my previous work in process painting and was expanded upon through the works below on plywood blocks where the objecthood of the works is as fundamental as they're painted surfaces.
My solo exhibition at Dunoon Burgh Hall Gallery was a great success and the perfect opportunity to see all of the paintings together. In some ways there is a narrative like feel to the work, the story of a journey of self discovery if you will. A journey of self discovery taken whilst in self-isolation.
