The Solace in Social-distancing

In these grim times of self-isolation and social distancing, fully engaging with my art and creativity has never been more important for my sense of happiness and general wellbeing. My art has always been a meditative, therapeutic practice which keeps my mind focused and enquiring. Art has the power to stimulate, inspire and soothe, and the decision to pursue life as a practitioner of the arts is in itself for the most part a solitary occupation. The dire circumstances currently in the outside world have forced us all on an inward journey both physically and mentally. Art provides a much needed escape from the grim realities of the virus and the outside world. There are blessings in isolation however. As dire as the situation seems I think the discipline of quarantine has proved to be a unique opportunity for creatives to exploit the situation and turn it their own advantage.  Although the virus may have physically restricted our movement, our minds and imagination are free to go wherever they may so choose aided by the magical worlds contained in books and of course the internet. I personally haven't felt this inspired in a long time, and feel extremely grateful to have a passion to engage in which keeps both my hands and mind fully engaged at this time. Perhaps it's the sense of facing up to my own mortality and that of loved ones in the light of this lethal virus, and realising how precious time actually is. The act of making seems to have taken on more of an imperative than ever. I have been looking through sketchbooks old and new, and experimenting with various ideas, creating several new series and pieces since the beginning of the year featuring my signature hand-cut butterflies. In this new body of work I have completed two of my most complex stitched and collaged designs (with more on the way), and am really excited about the directions in which the new work is going. I look forward to sharing more of the results in better times, when the virus is vanquished and something like normality resumes once again. May we all continue to stay safe. May we all continue to stay well.

20/20 Vision

Matt Collishaw: Butterflies Through Other Eyes #49

A dark aesthetic for dark times. Crushed butterflies from Matt Collishaw's Insecticide series.

Cerith Wyn Evans: No Realm of Thought... No Field of Vision

I visited White Cube Bermondsey once again to catch another exhibition before the gradual shutdown of London, this time it was the dramatic light installations of Cerith Wyn Evans (previously here). The creation of the largest of these neon sculptures is informed by the drawings of the first helicopter designed by Paul Cornu in 1907. There is also an amazing 'light wall' of neon dividing the space in another room composed of Japanese characters containing several literary references, and the smaller neon sculptures reference Marcel Duchamp's ready-made Bicycle Wheel (1913). I've been looking at a lot of Abstract Expressionist painting of late and so really appreciated seeing the gestural brushstrokes in Evan's Indeterminate Paintings series using black gloss and emulsion, as they were an aspect of his artistic practice that I had never seen before. In another gallery space was more new work again referencing Marcel Duchamp's work The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (1915-23), in a series of of large large bronze screens comprised of cracked or shattered glass. As well as the screens were large mobiles sculptures consisting of curved cracked glass windscreens which had been spotlit to refract the light as they moved in space. These mobiles and screens refer to Duchamp's sculpture which broke whilst in transit, and seeing the results Duchamp decided to embrace the element of chance that happened with the damage to his work and saw the cracking of the glass as being the completion of the artwork. I really enjoyed the stark, minimalist transparency of these works and absence of colour. The cracked/shattered glass enlived the pieces and provided some lovely abstract patterns.

Cerith Wyn Evans: No realm of thought... No field of vision
until 19th April
White Cube Bermondsey
144-152 Bermondsey Street 
London
SE1

(Please note that viewing hours for this exhibition have ended in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic).

Slices of Time

To Greenwich in extraordinary times, (just ahead of the London-wide lock down), to catch this amazingly huge, colourful, installation by Tokyo based, French artist/architect Emmanuelle Moureaux, and it is truly wonderful. Slices of Time is a chromatic cumulus, a numerical nimbus, a spectacular spectral binary billow, currently installed at NOW Gallery. The artwork takes its inspiration from both the concept of time and the site of the nearby Greenwich Meridian. Slices of Time consists of 168,000 cut paper numbers in a variety of colourful hues representing the full rainbow spectrum, hung in 120 sliced layers. There is a further separated section of white numbers which represents the past from 2000 to 2019, while the more colourful section alludes to the next 100 years in the future, and the space dividing the two sections represents the present, here and now. The textures created by the vast mass of numbers is a sight to behold, as is the nuanced gradation of the strong colours running the gamut of the whole spectrum along the piece. This installation really lifted my spirits in light of and despite of the unprecedented circumstances we find ourselves in. Stay well. Stay safe!

Slices of Time
until 19th April
NOW Gallery
Peninsula Square
Greenwich 
London
SE10

(Please note that viewing hours for this exhibition have ended in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic).