Possible Paintings: Change of Address.
The accompanying images suggest, as the post title implies, a “change of address” at the imagery represented in practice to depict the necessary subject matter.
A fondness for taking first-hand photographs at night around Stoke-on-Trent and its surrounding areas as far as London has increased a fascination with photography as part of the making process. The night has potential with its disadvantages for encapsulating whole environments and settings in darkness.
Perhaps this interest comes from the influence of famed Spanish painter Francisco Goya (1746-1828) and his black paintings; revealing the pessimism of his time; which are still as relevant today. Or maybe Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) and his shadowed backgrounds against Romanticism settings.
The photographs, on which the proposed new work is based, seem to illuminate contemporary signs and symbols of modernism in the present day against a dystopian light. Or perhaps the illumination; however much a flicker; represents the possibility of utopia. An optimistic view that tries to break through the pessimistic site of brownfield areas that have been poorly used or abandoned.
‘Parking Space’ documents the reflecting negative use of once vacant space into a retail outlet selling outdoor equipment, creating an ironic suggestion that more time is needed to be spent outside of urban life.
‘The Great Leap Forward’ takes its name from the economic and social campaign of the Chinese Communist Party in the mid-twentieth century, using the image of silkworms from China to reflect what a sort of ‘natural modernism’ from ecological communities.
‘Cobridge Hall’ (in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) illuminates an unused building near the border of towns Burslem-Hanley to highlight its isolation and possibly ghoul features.
