Holy Insecurity
Collage, acrylic and ink on canvas
50x40cm
North and Down
Collage, acrylic and ink on canvas
50x40cm
Spectres of the Feminine
Collage, acrylic and ink on canvas
50x40cm
Skin Trap
Collage, acrylic and ink on callico wrapped board
30x30cm
Death is the Passing of Time
Collage, acrylic and ink on canvas
50x40cm
Compounded Trauma
Collage, acrylic and ink on canvas
40x40cm
The Wasteland
Collage, acrylic and ink on canvas
60x40cm
Waterfalls in the Savanna
Collage, acrylic and ink on canvas
50x40cm
Persistence
Transfer, oil and ink on canvas
60x40cm
Frustrations, let downs, they come in steady supply,
Zombifying utterances, but never dare to cry.
Sweethearts, darlings and men like fucking scum,
One thing after another, let it come, let it come.
Two headed dogs, snake charmers and the rest,
Grime covered armour, let’s put it to the test.
A chest bruised and bloody, I’ll take it in my stride,
One last attempt at taking back a bit of pride.
Temporal Disjunction
Collage and cellulose lacquer on digitally printed canvas
42x55cm
Temporal Disjunction is like a reverse of Marxist Millionaires, a colour background with black and white rectangles placed on top this time. It uses values I learned from John Stezaker about overlaying images and having the content of each interact. It talks about traditional painting and modern image capture methods. The images are also images found on dark corners of the internet, and references the paranormal, the story of a doctor administering surgery on himself, the Jonestown Massacre and other macabre and mysterious topics that occupy shady corners of the internet. This overlaying of modern cultural topics over the traditional idea of beauty compares the past and the present.
Enveloping Mass
Collage, acrylic and ink on paper
150x30cm
Enveloping Mass was an attempt to cut back some of the visual noise in the collages, a collage was made and then I slowly painted almost all of it out, just leaving little areas of tension that I liked. Is the overcrowded and busy language of my paintings and collages what I want? Is less more? These were the discussions I was having at the time and this was one of the few times I tried this technique of subtraction to elevate the strongest elements out of the noise. The process reminded me of carving in sculpture: removing material to reveal the destined piece inside. If I were to take this analogy further my usual process of collage would perform the role of additive sculpting: piling on material to an armature to craft something new.
Lady Di collages
Two collages on paper
59.4×84.1cm each
Two A1 collages exploring the Royal Family, Princess Diana, the aristocracy and British culture. The imagery depicts the bizarre opulence and pomp of the monarchy that continues into the the present day (both idolised and criticised), the contradicting nature of Diana’s role, and references to the violence that the historical system of power has always relied on to survive. Whether that be the violent policing of the British royal subjects, or the colonial violence inflicted on other nations in the name of the empire.
Numinous Dread Collages
Collage, ink, paint and charcoal on paper
Numinous Dread is a topic I researched for my dissertation and I think is something I find interesting for its ability to marry together themes of existentialism and spirituality. I am constantly searching for truth and answers in my work and in my life. I want there to be a set of rules that we can fit the chaos of life, but at the same time, I get disappointed with the sometimes uninspiring results of science and rationality and long for the mystery and excitement of spirituality and the supernatural. Numinous Dread is the feeling of terror that fills someone who comes across something holy, it is the forbearer to a fully realised spiritual practice, it is very similar to the sublime. It is a kind of mystical terror, a feeling very deep and primal and suggests the presence of something higher. Francis Bacon used to talk about ‘the violence of existence’, the closer he observed his subjects and the more accurately he presented them, the more violence appeared in his images, as if one just has to look closer at life to see the violence it is made up of. These collages try to show that.
Large collages on paper
Sketchbook Collages
A selection of various sized collages from a few of my sketchbooks