From a new series – exploring the wonderful, rich complexity of the current state of art theory and practice. This series juggles the clash of concerns and claims that art needs to entertain: emotional impact, spontaneity, the conflicting dialectics of flatness and space, the unconscious, consciousness of the subject, the awareness of cultural givens, return of the narrative, spirituality, non-normative states and the simple joy of being able to see. This piece coincides with viewing the great Patrick Caulfield exhibition at Tate Britain, reflecting on his work and many of the issues listed above which I am exploring and studying. Here specifically I’m reflecting on the absence of people and ultimately the implied subject from his work.

From a new series – exploring the exciting complexity of current art theory and practice. In this image I reference an ancient Irish (celtic) mythological figure called Sweeney from pre-Christian Ireland. This wonderful tale is about a king who was cursed by St Ronan, becoming a tortured soul, half man, half bird, condemned to live out his life in trees, fleeing from his human companions. My image captures the moment (my addition to this tale and a reflection on the healing of the Irish psyche) when this sorry soul is released from his tortured past into the optimism of a new dawn.

From my new series – exploring the complexity of perspectives in art theory and practice. This piece focuses on the subject (YOU), cultural givens, the 21st century mind, alternate states of consciousness, interpretation and the simple joy of seeing. In our rapidly interconnected world, what is the meaning and future of so many diverse cultures clashing and colliding? What new interior spaces are opening up? And how does this impact our dreams, perspectives and creativity?

‘The Volcano’: a grand metaphor for creative outpouring. The creative urge is the need to create something new which artists of all kinds pursue, often with great fervour. The earliest recorded activity of ancient mankind is the decoration of their surrounding surfaces. A quote from Grayson Perry sums up beautifully the movement of creativity ….”Images spin and meld in the golden half-light of my imagination. This is the time when the shy creatures that are my ideas creep out into the clearing of my consciousness”…

I worked on this image for about a year, trying to balance the pictorial tensions which are also implied in the title concerning the critiques of modernist art.