These works are involved in what I think of as surrealist explorations, forming part of a painterly ‘theatre of the absurd’. They are back-of-the-brain-scapes including figurative, biological, and mechanistic references.
All are based on a single head or on the structure of a diamond drawn from the centres of the edges and a diagonal cross from the corners. Initially, paint is delivered to the canvas indirectly, by application in thick, oily, or wet consistency to a donor canvas that is offered up to a second primed or sized one. By rubbing, rolling, and otherwise, a stamp or print is formed on the receiving canvas. There is no specific image in mind. In the first instance, the process and compositional directions are all there is. Then it’s a matter of looking at the muddle in front of me, which slowly starts giving up imagery. Through heightening, colouring, caressing, and amplifying, the muddle develops into the ‘thing’ the viewer sees. Titles are clues only. You’re looking at pictorial poems. Take or leave what you will. A Picture for Oum Kalthoum acknowledges the great Egyptian singer. More Miles Than Money is the title of a song by Alejandro Escovedo. Garth Cartwright gave the same name to one of his musicology books. I see it as a metaphor for a long life in art. In time, all the works have evolved meaning and purpose for me, but I can’t tell you what to take away from them. There’s a lot that is comic here and there’s plenty of graffiti too. I wish not to disturb or depress utterly. Painting is a ‘difficult pleasure’ (as Brett Whitely said). I love it. I have fun in the moment, and the thoughts and musings along the way are manifold and far from endlessly bleak. Every day is a day in paradise, but you have to be concerned as you walk the banks, from source to sea.
