'Efflorescences (Birdhouse Coffee Cups)

I am interested in exploring radical painting strategies under the influence of such groups as FLUXUS and OULIPO, and artists working across boundaries, such as Yoko Ono, Yves Klein and John Cage. More recently I have become very interested in notions of ‘Post Vandalism’ -more interested in its urban spirit than ties with graffiti as such. My chosen focus is the use of water-based paint combined with salt, and I have been building a series of interrogative strategies, particularly those involving the reworking or recontextualizing of vernacular painting materials, to produce colourful, celebratory works —as fragile as the environment.

 

I began to use salt in my painting over 30 years ago as it provided a means of disrupting my intentions (the outcome is never completely predictable) and allows me to work in a space between chance and control, something I had previously enjoyed within my music practice.

 

Another determinant has been my coping with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a debilitating illness which eventually led to my leaving Plymouth University as a Fine Art lecturer after 22 years. Rather like the salt, I try to include this within my practice, and I have come to realise that many of my pieces embody a kind of ephemeral, fragile beauty.

 

A recent development has been the use of my paint/salt solutions to coat everyday objects in my life: medicine boxes, eggs, packets etc. For my exhibition at the Birdhouse café, Pinces Park, in April, I collected pieces of litter from in and around the park and repainted them, exhibiting the result as an act of reclaiming. This exhibition also featured a selection of my painting work from the past five years or so, showing the development of my thinking.

3 Painted Coffee Cups 

Mixed Media | 3 Painted Coffee Cups

30x30cm