Memories
- Mixed media on box canvas
- unframed
- This is probably the most complicated painting I have ever done, both in concept and process; and it's taken a long time to get to where it is now.
It started with reading about the Fibonacci sequence of numbers and the discovery of the frequency with which this sequence occurs in nature. This was a wonderful, magical revelation to me, I was totally enthralled (and still am) and became quite obsessed. Simultaneously whilst was working on ideas for a painting project about memories I realised that the way in which our memories recur forms a spiral: the recollections of an event are frequent (closer together) immediately after the event and as time passes the recollections become more spaced out, but they still come round again and again; some of the memories are bright and shiny, others are dull and some get left behind but any of them may re-surface in the future, when conditions are right.
The process was complex: it started with drawing out a spiral based on the Fibonacci sequence and placing it on the canvas; from then on I had only a vague idea of where it was going next. It was a kind of dialogue between me and the canvas: sometimes it was all frenzied chatter and sometimes we had nothing to say to each other! First the stitching began - attaching calico, threads, wires, bits of cloth and other materials; then came the gluing and tying; then some painting; attaching bits and pieces; more painting; more sticking; more painting and so on..
It's been a fascinating experience and I think it's completed now but I'm not entirely sure: I'll need to live with it for a while before I sign it off.