Passage: bathurst (2006)

passage- bathurst no1 Charcoal on wood 2006 35in x 40in

passage- bathurst no2 Charcoal on wood 2006 35in x 40in

passage- bathurst no3 Charcoal on wood 2006 35in x 40in

Other side of the world (2006)

Other side of the world Charcoal on wood 2006 45in by 35in

No road Home ( 2006)

No road home no1 Charcoal on wood 2006 30in x 65in

No road home no2 Charcoal on wood 2006 30in x 65in

No road home no3 (ray) Charcoal on wood 2006 30in x 65in

No road home no4 (Andy) Charcoal on wood 2006 30in x 30in

No road home no4 (kate) Charcoal on wood 2006 30in x 30in

No road home no6 Charcoal on wood 2006 30in x 65in

Passage: stoke 2006

There are two bodies of work that fall under the title “passage”, both began with a very similar theme. I wanted to deal with a world close to me, the landscape of the tenement housings that I grew up in without a human subject but still showing traces of some life. I wanted to give a feeling of what life was like on an English housing estate. It seemed logical to remove the human subject to build the atmosphere. I wanted to give the viewer the impression of passing through a lonely urban setting. I wanted to lead the viewer into the image using darker tones to build anxiety.

8am to 6pm

This drawing was my attempt to continue where my work had left off in the “ideal HOME” project. The focus of work had shifted I wanted to show what was (or perhaps could have been) left behind, the trace of lives. Letting the viewer see in to a world, an uncomfortable world of a context of grim, everyday life, whist tiring to understand the narrative of what are seeing.
With this mind it seemed more appropriate to place my work in to the environments that reinforce the ideas of the work, as I had in Bentilee. My initial idea was to using an entire room, drawing directly on to the walls, the viewer was no longer just an observer but involved with the work in a more physical panorama.


As I progressed, I feel that this concept held two inherent problems, the first begin that if the images would work better in different environment than a studio and the practicality with in a working studio, such as using projection with in a confined space or interfering with others using exhibition spaces.
The work I had produced for ideal home exhibition had been a success because it fitted comfortable with in the surroundings. It become clear that if the images where place in an environment that was outside the studio, the viewer would connect more with the themes of the work.

new work at last!

This is Hope Media Charcoal and pastels on paper Date produced 2007 Dimensions 62cmx93cm 24x37
Soon to be donated Emergency Department of Royal Liverpool University Hospital (England)

Imperial War Museum North

This work was produce as part of an art workshop, dealing with themes of displacement due conflict. I was a contributor to the Moving Minds exhibition and structured the workshop.

Cover.

The piece itself consisted of eight slides. Two sets of photographs where produced to make up the body of the projection. The first contained models in period dress where produce and the placed in scenes of conflicts from the last century. Each image was constructed from two or more photographs. The first stage of process was finding the correct costumes. The costumes warn in the images are made up from a model’s father’s nation service uniforms, a second hand trench coat (my own clothing) and hand made rifle built from everything for a copper pipe to the nick of cocoa cola bottle. The next stage involves changing the tone of the image. After this, the color was tuned to a duotone then burled to convey to the viewer that the image is an authentic image taken from one the wars of the last century. The final stage is to place the image out a background. Each background used where taken from my own collection of photographs shot over the last five years. Other images used where screen captured from DVD videos. (The tanks used in the background for image are from “Evita”).

Different stages

In the second set the models striped from waist up with text placed on to their chest that confesses there true feelings as a way showing the external to the internal self.( At the time a mistaken was made, I only shot the models with set of text. The rest of the text was added in later on Photoshop.)


I wanted to show what it feels like in the hearts of the men who want to war. The message that I wanted to give the viewer is that war not only outwardly destructive but also internally damaging to those involved. The final project was made up of eight slides, with many slides left out as I felt any more the four of each would reduce the impact of images.

Each set then will be made into slides and projected on to the Silos of the war museum. The images would in turn from the external to the internal self at timed intervals. This would appear as an image of a solider in mists of war for thirty seconds followed by thirty seconds of darkness just long enough for the viewer to be on the cusp of walking away and for five brief seconds an image of the photographic protagonist will return for five seconds, allowing the viewer to see what the felt inside, then the cycle would begin again after a thirty second interval.
The final eight

Unused images.