"Earth Air Fire Water" Print

Fred is a native of the Caribbean island of St. Vincent who was schooled on Barbados and Jamaica, as well as in Toronto. He has worked as a corporate lawyer in the British Virgin Islands and as a biosafety adviser with the United Nations Environment Programme. He resides on Barbados at the moment. Since August 2007 C.E. he has been exploring a hitherto unsuspected calling that is his true talent—action painting, under the nom de guerre “Parhelion”. In his art, the act of creation itself is highlighted as the ultimate message; the method of communication is part of what is communicated. Life is vibrant, riotous energy in constant motion (his Caribbean background reminds him of this constantly!) and the play of raw colours in his work expresses this—a spontaneous demonstration that creativity is the very antithesis of despair. Each piece is an unrepeatable entelechial event expressing the essence of an idea, concept, notion, or feeling. The aim is not to capture the idea and mount it like a butterfly with spikes through its wings; rather, the point of bringing a given work to manifestation is to assist the underlying notion to fly free by giving it extra dimensions in which to move and have its being. Symbolism is directly communicated to the viewer, bypassing pre-conceived notions and striking to the heart of the relationship between observer and observed. Influences include Jackson Pollock, Hans Hoffman, Wassily Kandinsky, and Sam Francis.