Orchard Gallery, Gunby Hall and Gardens

Gunby, Spilsby, Lincolnshire, PE23 5SS

False Doors and Timeless Thresholds

APRIL  12th - APRIL 30th - 2021

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Behind the Work & Resonance with
The Gardens of Gunby Hall

After a lifetime of studies in art and art history and following visits to Pompeii and Herculaneum, the impact of Roman wall paintings was a revelation and I felt compelled to engage with its intrigues, clever perspectives and conventions. Not only false doors but also windows, frames, views and shrines are suggested. A recurring element is the apotropaic sign which guards against the insecurity of these liminal spaces - so the liminal space here becomes a painted metaphor for feelings of uncertainty.

After a visit to Crete and particularly Knossos and Heraklion I was motivated to respond to the even older fragments of paintings from about 1600 BCE and to tie them into the themes of the rest of my work.

Perhaps the Labyrinth copied from Cretan coins is an extreme liminal space.

A common denominator is a fascination with the aesthetics of decay or damage that obscures an original surface or intention.

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I was delighted to notice a resonance between the paintings and aspects of the gardens at Gunby Hall particularly the arbours, arches and doors in walls and a sense of something timeless to discover. Trompe-l'œil apertures and gardens are very much part of the Roman painting that I have drawn on in my work.