Artists Statement
Often inspired by literature, my current focus lies with Fable by Janos Pilinszky. A post WW2 poet, Pilinszky spent time in concentration camps and went on to write a small but poignant body of work inspired by what he experienced.
Telling the story of a lonely wolf, Fable is a haunting portrayal of a refugee, isolated and misunderstood. The paintings I create in response to the poem are imagined landscapes which I picture the wolf navigating as he searches for safety. However, they are permeated with signs of fear and seclusion.
Here influence also lies with the works of Chinese artists such as Quo Xi (1020–1090) and Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) whose landscapes are monumental and limitless, allowing for the eye to travel over vast lands, and for the mind to imagine even further beyond.
Using oils on paper with mediums that by their very nature oppose each other, painted layers distort and separate. Strange, fairytale-like landscapes are pulled out of the random markings, and minute detail such as houses, boats and trees are painted amongst them. Clusters of tents, lifebuoys and other items alluding to the plight of the refugee can also often be found.
Purposefully, the details never quite tell what may have occurred, and the wolf cannot always be seen, with the hope the viewer will imagine their own paths and stories through the landscapes.
These surreal yet familiar landscapes with echoes of suburbia are not dissimilar to a setting for a fairytale, within which I will often include pockets of colour and light that allude to hope in our beautiful but confused world.
To read more on The Lonely Wolf, please click here.
Telling the story of a lonely wolf, Fable is a haunting portrayal of a refugee, isolated and misunderstood. The paintings I create in response to the poem are imagined landscapes which I picture the wolf navigating as he searches for safety. However, they are permeated with signs of fear and seclusion.
Here influence also lies with the works of Chinese artists such as Quo Xi (1020–1090) and Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) whose landscapes are monumental and limitless, allowing for the eye to travel over vast lands, and for the mind to imagine even further beyond.
Using oils on paper with mediums that by their very nature oppose each other, painted layers distort and separate. Strange, fairytale-like landscapes are pulled out of the random markings, and minute detail such as houses, boats and trees are painted amongst them. Clusters of tents, lifebuoys and other items alluding to the plight of the refugee can also often be found.
Purposefully, the details never quite tell what may have occurred, and the wolf cannot always be seen, with the hope the viewer will imagine their own paths and stories through the landscapes.
These surreal yet familiar landscapes with echoes of suburbia are not dissimilar to a setting for a fairytale, within which I will often include pockets of colour and light that allude to hope in our beautiful but confused world.
To read more on The Lonely Wolf, please click here.