The Old Man Painting

My painting practice has been split into two distinctly different processes: Firstly, traditional painting on canvas displayed on the wall; and secondly, the creation of hybrid painting which focuses on process and the materiality of acrylic/latex paint. The latter uses steel mesh rather than canvas and is formed into large scale 3-d floor paintings. The former process, traditional painting on canvas, is my current practice. My current research involves collecting personal interviews from friends and family about their memories of childhood, coupled with tangible materials such as photographs, postcards, letters, diaries, maps, vintage objects etc. My research is then collated to construct a contextual framework, a narrative that will become a series of painted works. The work is testimony to preservation and/or deterioration of memory through time, the impact of trauma, and the surrounding environment. My research has revealed a drastic polarity between my own memories of a past event, and that of others who experienced the same event. This series of figurative paintings, which is still work in progress, infers a state of suspension; a presence that is captured within a memory, or the perception of what that memory was. My first series of paintings called Quell 1 and Quell 2, demonstrates the beginning of my exploration into the theme of memory, and the compositional challenges that are presented to me as a contemporary painter.