The last few weeks are amongst the craziest I've ever experienced. Yesterday my computer was stolen in a particularly nasty smash and grab at home - over £1000 damage as well as the missing laptop. And that came just a couple of days after getting out of hospital with my sick daughter.
On the upside my daughter is much better and we have insurance - plus my fantastic partner managed to get the Burton show up for me on time, while I sat by the hospital bed doing the nursey thing. A couple of the paintings didn't quite get finished but there we are…
A taste of the show is below.
The Lives Lived exhibition poster, showing "Head Enforcer" "Head Enforcer" was inspired by the number of people who have knocked on the door of our new house to demand money off the previous owner. It includes copies of bailiffs notices sent for the previous owner too, as well as local newspaper clippings, emails and personal letters. The original piece is A4 sized, comprising of an original ink drawing plus photocopies and matt medium.
Vogue Acrylics, inks, matt medium, Vogue magazine 36"x12" loxeley box canvas
"Vogue" is based on those women for whom a label is everything and who would never leave the house without full make up. The background pattern is created from a Dolce Gabbana advert as it appeared in British Vogue November 2005, while shadows on the face and hands are created from articles within the magazine.
Daisy's Wedding NightInk, photocopies, matt medium on paper. A3 sized. Framed.Daisy is a woman who finds life problematic. This piece reflects her confused state, being built from excerpts from her childhood Bible (Genesis), the chapter on "What happens on the wedding night" from the 1935 edition of
Everybody's Family Doctorand various parts of
The Encyclopaedia of Prophecy – all tools she needs to just get her through the day. The daisies on her frock reflect her continual questioning (he loves me, he loves me not, petal by petal).
Andromeda
Ink on paper, framed
Andromeda is young and not yet marked by disappointment or fears. She hold on to her dreams and waits for life to begin.
Portrait of the artist as a young journalist
ink, photocopies, newsprint, matt medium
This piece is a self-portrait of the woman I was immediately before I had kids. It is built up of articles I wrote for Time Out Amsterdam magazine, my business card, love letters from my partner and other things that then seemed so important. Including now given up cigarettes....
Eddie
Ink, acrylics, newsprint, matt medium, photocopies on paper. A4 sized. Framed.
Eddie has certainly lived his life and is now bowed down by it. This piece includes many of those bailiffs notices previously mentioned… it is this man who is being hounded!
Iago
Acrylic, ink, photocopies on loxeley canvas.
Iago is my take on the Shakespearean character, a contemporary version of the scheming, power-hungry villain of the play Othello. The shadows and background are made up of Iago's speeches, the figure on his chin is an actor playing the part of the Moor back in the 1940s.
