Mock Artist Talk +4
Q: A few weeks have passed since your debut solo show ‘Grandfather’ at Airspace Gallery from 25 January to 2 February. Where did the motivation to create the surprisingly different paintings featured in the show come from?
A: Most of the paintings with two exceptions were created in 5-minutes each over the two weeks before the exhibition, and like their debut in the aforementioned show, they were shown without hesitation, and with a long-awaited desire to just… paint. You always hear that expression “do not think too much” but you need to actually experience its message to understand it.
Q: With more colour and far-less abstract visual imagery, do the new paintings differentiate from your chosen themes of nationalism and/or identity?
A: No because much like the dictionary there are numerous definitions of the same word – much like different brands or styles of compasses all of which still lead you in the same direction. An example to examine is the painting ‘Polish Sausage (Kabanos)’ [see enclosed image] which includes a facial portrait made of eponymous sausages, topped with some Euro currency notes, and finished with a toxic looking puddle-of-a-smile. The chosen national icon of Poland (being half Polish myself) is the Kabanos which can at first look a tad pruney and skinny but is actually treated with almost as much respect as the farmers who harvest it, and the butchers who make it. Plus, there is a slightly non-realistic depiction of the Euro currency as a means to frame the narrative of the painting as not just being about sausages but also financial recession and a lack of culinary choice.
Q: There is a visual link with one of the paintings to Philip Guston [born 1913 died 1980] an American painter whom has been an influence on yours and many others’ practices for his abstract and figurative work that often transcended the cartoonish aesthetic. Was this intentional and where there other works that were made from an intended influence?
A: Well one other painting was almost a close gloss paint replica Francisco Goya [born 1746-1828] with “cartoonish” alteration that is well received, and not strictly speaking but the crown object in another painting was conceived from the famous ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ posters, and one featuring a snake, a cowboy hat and a blue jean leather bag seemed to very loosely originate from the Kings of Leon [American band, formed 1999] track ‘King of the Rodeo’ as symbols of the capitalist West (as a metaphor). Other than that, the paintings came from original intent, motivation and inspiration from items seen in everyday life that have a sense of pride bestowed on them like pub signs.
Q: From graduate to graduate artist-in-residence; what does the future hold for the practice?
A: Possibly applying for Masters studies or art courses in painting to increase knowledge of the medium, continue networking and developing the career prospects. There are ideas floating around for a self-organised group painting show in London because the time away from the capital was been lovely and it is terrific to return to the city that bore me and that I hope to exhibit in more often. Sculpture will likely not be continued again for a very long time due to lack of resoures, space and knowledge & comfortability with the medium to be able to craft it in this day and age. If there was a further education course to study in the future with a provided studio, tutors and mentors then sculpture might continue in the form of portable clay works that would act as forms for new paintings.
