Icarus - Left Wing Print

“Icarus – Left Wing” is one part of a set of paintings on recycled curtains. The Icarus Theme The myth of Icarus is a young man’s theme, the issue of recognising one’s boundaries, of not heeding or understanding other’s warnings or advice due to a lack of experience and overestimating one’s strength. It’s about the limited horizon we have, based on our history, the context of our upbringing. About the misjudging of boundaries with catastrophic consequences. But it is also a tail of engineering, the pair of wings made by Icarus’ father Daedalus, enabling the reckless flight, and his grief and loss. Exposing Painting to the Elements “Icarus – Left Wing” is part of a series of paintings, designed to be exposed to the elements. Paintings, in general, are thought of as fragile, a maintenance problem, with changes in humidity being considered as a key problem. These experiments try to expose paintings to wind and weather, or the see, let them breath, be soaked. Oil paint, or even egg tempera, are extremely resilient. Using bungy cords, I found shocks from exposure to wind can be well absorbed, minimising damage to the fabric. “Icarus – Left Wing” was exposed to Irish winter weather for 3 weeks in November 2019, when installed as part of the group exhibition “AAEX Installations” in Dundalk, Co. Louth. The painting can be installed indoors, or occasionally outdoors, whereby any prolonged outdoor exposure will be experimental, any fading, wear and tear occurring over time would be part of the concept. In this sense it is up to any prospective owner to judge further exposure and develop the painting further. Repairs may be undertaken. There is no single stage, in which these paintings should be preserved. They should live an breathe every now and again, and thus may age and deteriorate. Construction Details Oil, pigment and turpentine on recycled cotton curtains. Large curtain eyelets on top, 15mm eyelets at the sides. Size given are the dimensions of the painting, installation size will vary, depending on the frame used. Some shock cords and carabines are included, but not the frame. Could be framed using timber, scaffolding or other material, or the painting could be stretched from hooks inside a room, using walls and the ceiling as a frame. Additional shock cords may need to be acquired depending on the dimensions of the framing solution. The artwork ships folded in a box.