A narrative installation and a book were created based on a written piece titled ‘You Alright’. The protagonist in the story is a painter who views himself as a consummate storyteller. He grapples with the challenges of an insular existence through the catharsis of painting. My visual practice channels this approach in dealing with queries raised in my writing, cumulating in an immersive narrative experiences where the viewer and I can partake as the protagonist or wilful observer. In composing central scenes in the story, materials are deliberately chosen with the same intention as rhetorical devices in writing - to deepen the viewer’s and my connection to queries and themes in the story. The interplay of light with materials seeks to persuade alternative perspectives and occasionally elicit answers.
With thanks to: Amelie Bonhomme (Book Layout), Ben Yates (Video) and Claudius Ricketts (Selected Photos).
All sculptural pieces are centred on written piece 'You Alright'.
In ‘YA No. -0...’ the painter muses on a creature which had passed away upon his arrival to the isolated island to which he is confined. The creature’s ancestry evolved with weakness due to an insular existence and succumbed to extinction. The murky agar jelly is circumscribed by the acrylic sheet, denying it and all that exists within it connection to anything beyond. The creature’s bloodline attempts to shine through this structure, only to be absorbed into the fabric of the bygone. Graphite powder floats inside the agar (nano carbon being the most light absorbing material known to man), effectively blotting out the light into obscurity.
All sculptural pieces are centred on written piece 'You Alright'.
‘YA No.1...’ depicts a scene where the painter frequents a cove filled with thickets of kelp bulbs which resemble ersatz eyeballs. Bubbles resonate through this thicket mimicking a rhythmic chant of ‘you alright’. Glass shards break through a seemingly calm frosted surface spelling out the underlying musical notes. The shards also play the jarring role of a greek chorus taunting the painter’s ability to cope with isolation. The pin light refracting through the shards streams through the entire structure and transcends the cynical chorus to a mantra with meditative purpose, one which alludes to the spiritual principle of interconnectedness of all forms of life. However, the sharp edges of the glass still exist amongst this stream of thought, inviting us into the unease between the painter’s two states of mind.
All sculptural pieces are centred on written piece 'You Alright'.
In ‘YA No. 2..’ the painter is compelled by an arcane force to paint a web of polyhedrons inside a cave. This drawing appears to unfold along a linear passage of time and be confined to the walls of the cave: a nod to the finality of physical and carnal confinement. The delicateness of the copper wires produce a diaphanous quality, letting a seemingly heavy material float out if its intended space.The capricious strobing light further shifts this static form to a beating fluid structure with overflowing shadows. This luminous trance impels the painter to challenge his notion of extinction and animates him to rethink of time and space as illusory boundaries, connecting him with the world beyond his physical and carnal limitations.
Video documentation of “YA No. 2 - The Space In Front of Him Was Hastily Filled With Thirty Faced Rhombic Polyhedrons”
In ‘YA No. 3...’ the painter is unable to apply the notion of interconnectedness to the harsh realities of his isolation. He struggles with the finality of his own existence and indulges in the connection brought by a thicket of ersatz eyeballs even though the thicket presents a very danger of pulling him into the currents. Images of the posterior cavity of eyeballs are printed on silicon sheets mimicking the anatomy of eyes. Each eyeball is then ‘blinded’ by graphite powder and carbon sheets then woven together to form a blanket wrapping the painter in comfort. However, this blanket hangs off two acetate rods, dragging the painter down: the steel ring forms one of the painter’s irises anchored to the heaviness of his situation. Once the painter surrenders to the ebb and flow between his two states of mind, he is no longer weighed down. The pinspot light forms his other iris: it allows him to float above the drag and eclipse it with lightness.
Text excerpt from written piece ‘You Alright’
Text excerpt from written piece ‘You Alright’
Text excerpt from written piece ‘You Alright’
Text excerpt from written piece ‘You Alright’