Interiors can include passageways to light, avenues for escape and architecture to inspire. Sigmund Freud had plenty to say about the significance of interiors and doorways in his book “The Interpretation of Dreams”. If buildings are meant to shelter us from the world as Freud suggests, then what kind of shelter is being provided. If buildings are our little kingdom, then what kind of kingdom are we rulers of?
My latest exhibition “Chambers Of The Mind” is based on paintings of fantasy church interiors and architectural capriccios produced by a number of artists in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These works gave the artists an opportunity to show off their technical skill, and in order to enhance the grandeur of the scenes, they employed the rather dubious tactic of populated them with figures that were far too small. And yet there is a coldness, a clinical quality to some of these paintings that appealed to me.
Late For The Wedding, oil on canvas, 71 cm x 101 cm
The settings for these classical paintings may have been imaginary, but in my re imaginings of them I have removed the figures in order to draw the viewer into the scene and explore it. These interiors can be contemplative, exploratory and perhaps not entirely sane.
Banqueting Hall, oil on canvas, 66 cm x 86 cm
There are no religious overtones to this series. I’m not a religious person but I do acknowledge the wonderful contribution religion has made to architecture. It’s a matter of separating the corporeal from the spiritual and it probably helps to be super sensitive to atmospheres.
The Cloister, oil on canvas, 71 cm x 101 cm
My art practice often includes taking the backward step of producing a drawing from an image I’ve encountered on the Net or elsewhere, so I can develop a relationship with the scene. Occasionally I alter the composition and colours to achieve the desired effect. The images in this series include claustrophobic spaces and vast empty ones to present different states of mind.
Searching For The Exit, oil on canvas, 51 cm x 46 cm
Inside the brain there is a storehouse of impressions, memory and experiences that can surface at different moments and it’s a matter of capturing those moments when creating. External events impinge on our mental processes and they can spill out onto the canvas.
The Door Is Always Open, oil on canvas, 76 cm x 91 cm
The exhibition is being held at Tacit Galleries, level 1/189 Johnston Street Collingwood and runs until 29th July.