War Baby Painting

Artist’s Statement by Lawrence Burrow. In this collection my focus has been on the connection between the skills people hold and their recreational activities. The images which I have retrieved to use in this body of work are those which have collated in my imagination because of their colour, shape or symbolic nature. My work is built on a desire to express my passion for every element which I absorb on my journey through the normalities of everyday life and I use the emotions which are inherent in human nature to inspire my paintings. ‘War baby’ is an example of how ignorance within individuals breeds fear within society, which leads to violence. This chain is expressed in the fear of the figure, who has had to protect herself from cruelty which has been caused by the ignorance of others whom she has been in contact with her whole life. The figure is walking away from this violence with her baby, who she is protecting with her life. She is walking into the sun and a better life; free of ignorance. Once you go past the initial amusement of ‘Friday Night (Can’t Wait)’ and begin to understand the excitement and compassion of that captured moment it makes me excited because it reminds me of prosperous times when Friday was the day that girls finished their factory work early, and the boys finished their shifts down the pit. They all met up to enjoy themselves and look forward to the weekend, allowing themselves to forget about work until Monday. Something which was not realised by myself until I had completed the body of work was the religious theme that runs through the images, they have become metaphorical in a sense that they are held together almost like a stain glass window which would be found in a church because of the shapes and colours which form the images. The idea of religion is something which affects not only mine, but everybody’s lives, whether they are followers or not, because of its positive and destructive impact that it can have on society, which is why it is so prevalent in my work. Every day we capture moments almost subconsciously which assemble in our minds as images, sounds, smells and vibrations. My work is the experience of how these moments are collated automatically in my mind; when they are constructed on the canvas it allows me to de construct them in my mind, which allows me to realise what they mean to me.