Masters show

                                                                                                Piece and Loaf, 2009

                                                                       You're not in El Dorado Anymore, 2009

                                                                                                                              Cosmic Soup II, 2009

                                                                                                           The Proverbial Red Sheep, 2009

                                                                                                                                Sweet Lumina, 2009

“We are neither pure nor wise nor good, we'll do the best we know, we'll light our fires and plant our trees and make our garden grow."

- Leonard Bernstein’s Candide

My practice is driven by the concept of Utopia on earth and how it may only be enforced through the process of re- enchantment: a joyous appreciation of the natural wonder that exists in everyday life. I believe that re- enchantment manifests itself in an awareness of history, the divine and an understanding of natural rhythms. As we progress further and further it is has become fruitless to believe that our quest for meaning is a sort of ‘jigsaw puzzle’ that we will one day complete. This exciting revelation has encouraged me to reject the philosophies of success and achievement in a pragmatic sense and welcome instead the notion that man is capable of supporting himself through a sustained sense of wonder. 

My visual practice ranges from drawing and painting to sculpture and installation. Sources of research include literature such as the writings of George Mackay Brown, Thomas Moore and Barbara Ehrenreich and an interest in religious belief and philosophical enquiry.

“Reclaiming the Garden:” (2009) was a gallery installation that explored contentment and awe through visual narrative. I am very interested in the restoration of the self through sensation and this installation combined heat and light with texture and sweet smells. Included in this was the floor piece ‘Piece and Loaf:’ (2009) in which I painted directly onto bread and pastries in order to dress up the most basic foodstuff until it became inedible whilst retaining its natural smell. This approach was a play on imagery from the mythical land of Cockaigne[1] but manages to capture the satire of Voltaire’s Candide as brioche whirls take on the appearance of fake ‘turds’ and croissants are transformed into cartoon crabs.

 Humour aside, this work inevitably remarks upon Jesus’ teaching: “I am the bread of life.” This, juxtaposed with George Mackay Brown’s comment that this “image has a universal meaning for me, especially since I can stand among the ripening fields all summer,” fully conveys my ideals as an artist. My personal ‘ripening field’ appears when I am able to make something of wonder from modest means.

---

[1] The mythical land of Cockaigne was a medieval peasant’s dream, where there were no worries or work and everything was fruitful and abundant. Streets were paved with bread, rivers flowed with sweet wine and residents were paid for being idle.