ARTIST STATEMENT

The quest for my own mode of expression began in earnest with my great friend and mentor Stephen McKenna. Years of absorbing conversations developed in me a huge respect for our artistic past. He taught me to look to antiquity when attempting to move forward. Thanks to him, this enquiry began with the ancient wall paintings of places such as Pompeii and Santorini. I have also looked to the natural rock formations of the caves of Eastern Spain and more recently my attention has been drawn to the urban concrete walls of the Spanish village, Abaran.

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This interest in the primitive, the eroded, the timeworn has led me to look at the ancient aesthetic of past civilisations. These cultures recognised that there was a noble beauty in the scarring left by the tribulations they endured. Such scars tell the story of their heroic survival. It is the intrinsic sincerity, the virtue of their wisdom that has led me to this enquiry. This is the narrative that informs these paintings.

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In order to express these concerns in my practice, I have looked back to the transformative processes of Alchemy. Through the union of pigment and quartz, I feel sufficiently able to pay homage to the sacred beauty of these structures. The beauty which has manifested itself in the appearance of the time-worn walls.