I’ve not painted in a long time – my previous work quite often included symbols (I used to doodle Paul Klee style characters on old computer paper), and my degree work used a lot of text, so this isn’t a massive surprise. I did a lot of work in fountain inks, Quink etc using them like paint, and collage. Also I did some spray stencil and paint pen work for a design project for a hip hop night that never came to fruition, so I wanted to develop that.
What’s new in this first painting in a while is using these kids paints, from these ‘paint pens’, and stickers…I am both repelled and fascinated by how the smileys of old have become ominous and evil looking emojis, ‘reward’ stickers being used like some kiddie currency (‘A tick and a gold star!’).
It might seem chaotic, hence posting a lot of details, there is an intentional triptych here, like a stained glass window, and a Miltonian/William Blake idea of heaven above and hell below…(although blue water can be dangerous as well). Thematically spirals and circles, serpentine lines becoming DNA spirals, all of these certain religious and arcane symbols keep popping up in my Skratchbook and from my subconscious. The idea was to work with blue waves, which became spirals and circles, and then the rest came along. I’m still working through the process about what it means, but each piece I do I find out more. And becomes less chaotic.
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