Ancestors Watch from the Horizon Painting

A lot of my art involves using the subconscious, as well as primitive or ancient influences to find deeper truths about the human experience. I am very interested in concepts that are common to the human experience – things that we share with our ancient ancestors. In exploring these, I hope to understand more about our place in the universe, and the meaning of human concepts and the lives of individuals. When I use improvisation, mythology, and psychological archetypes, the images tend to be simplified and stylistic in my attempts to extract the essential nature of a concept, at the same time as making it universal and flexible in its interpretation. I find the results are often reminiscent of some cave paintings and primitive or tribal art, and this in itself is an interesting discovery. Since much of this work stems from subconscious thought, it is as much a voyage of self discovery for me as it is a conscious expression of ideas and aesthetics. Honouring and being overseen by ancestors is a repeating theme in ancient culture. The figures round the outside are the semi-deified ancestors. They seem to be far away - on the horizon in all directions, so forming a circle around the living. The central portion is possibly some representation of a settlement or maybe relationships between individuals. Created in 2012