Currently on view at the One-off gallery till 21 September
For what is our civilised world but a big masquerade?…….only masks, and, as a rule, behind the masks you will find moneymakers. One man, I suppose, puts on the mask of law, which he has borrowed for the purpose from a barrister, only in order to be able to give another man a sound drubbing; a second has chosen the mask of patriotism and the public welfare with a similar intent; a third takes religion or purity of doctrine. For all sorts of purposes men have often put on the mask of philosophy, and even of philanthropy,…
Then there are general masks, without any particular character attached to them like dominoes. They may be met with everywhere; and of this sort is the strict rectitude, the courtesy, the sincere sympathy, the smiling friendship, that people profess. The whole of these masks as a rule are merely, a disguise for some industry, commerce, or speculation.
-An excerpt on human nature by Arthur Schopenhauer
fig.1 The substance of things
The paintings oscillates between how reality is imagined and how it actually manifests. The reference of stripped flesh, is a recurring motif which I often use as an identifier that informs stereotypes, the forms used here in multiple iterations explores our internal identities and territories as a mental frame of reference.
The work seeks to expose broken systems of governance, a precarious awareness now challenging the values that have, in different forms and times steered societal structures and how our humanity is coming face to face with the fall out resulting from fragmented systems. This is happening on all fronts of the global Social agitation. While this is one of the ways of confronting the dysfunctionality rooted in our social structures, the intensity of these times is also giving rise to a climate of over-legislation, militarisation and intolerance. When we consciously consider our interconnectedness, we become heightened to our own existence. Therefore my intention is for these paintings to encapsulate the prevailing realities and also serve as a place of connecting to the experiences of others. 'Hope' then becomes a revolutionary act of defiance.
fig. 3 Study III
