ARTIST STATEMENT

There is an assumption that everyone is the product of their past experiences, their choices and the decisions made throughout their lives.  This body of work considers the elements that have been discarded and dismissed and concerns itself with questions surrounding the “what ifs” and “what might have beens” in life.

The work takes on the appearance of crumpled sheets of paper with each one representing an incomplete action, unfulfilled promise or a discarded thought.  These thoughts, having remained dormant and forgotten, have a strange familiarity whilst at the same time also possess an air of mystery.  They are ambiguous and shifting, stained and incomplete.  They have a sense of the past but also refer to the present and are suggestive of things to come.

The early stages of this body of work began quite literally with thoughts and ideas hurriedly written on pieces of paper which were then crumpled up and sealed in plaster/filler, remaining hidden from view.  As the work progressed the closed objects opened up to reveal their inner contents.

The Discarded Thoughts theme has since been expanded to include forgotten memories; fleeting images that suggest rather than illustrate events real or imagined.  References to lost knowledge are also present in the graffiti-like markings, the traces of writing and images beneath the surface of the pieces and the suggestion of prehistoric cave and rock art.

The process used in these works begins with a layer of collage, usually pages of text and illustrations from encyclopaedias and old discarded reference books applied to aluminium sheets.  The books and articles are selected to best compliment the ideas and concepts being explored at the time.

The collage is then coated with a mixture of filler and PVA and scratched into. This process is repeated several times throughout the history of the piece, gradually building up and adding to the texture whilst allowing some of the printed matter to appear through the surface.

The next stage in the process is to shape and bend the aluminium into the desired form; once this has been achieved additional filler/PVA layers are added before the initial stages of painting can begin.

Colour is gradually built up using thin washes of acrylic paint to stain and pull out detail from the surface of the work.  This helps to teases out the shapes and forms that will gradually suggest the overall imagery for the final piece.

Although the works have a rough 3D finish, the approach to painting and the application of paint is closest to that of watercolour painting, with colour sinking in and becoming part of the image rather than sitting on the surface.  My previous experience in ceramic sculpture, with its application of oxides and underglazes is the most probable explanation for my continuing use of this technique.