|
"Many
artists declaim humanity's cruelty to itself. We're conditioned
to accept violence and unhappiness in their many forms, yet
at the same time anathematise the healthy human body. As HG
Wells knew, these contradictory precepts have held humanity
back more than any others.
"I'm more interested in the cure, rather than dwelling
on the illness itself. I feel that the present and past have
already been analysed to death, and that humanity will never
turn experience into improvement, unless we use what we've learned
to look forwards as well as backwards.
"I paint acceptance of the human body as fundamental to
achieving a better world. Deal with that one prejudice, and
many others will fall away automatically. My work involves no
stress, no shame or trauma, just people being creative. The
ideas which I paint come from my own background - something
which I guess most artists have in common. In my case, that
includes the music in which I originally trained - often, just
hearing a few bars will stamp an image on my mind. The countryside
of the Chiltern Hills also features prominently as a place where,
as I grew up, I found I could wander freely, and let my mind
explore and develop. Some will also detect an element of spiritualism
in my work; the result of my own lifetime of sifting logic from
imposed dogma and experience, to build a pattern for the future.
"Thanks to our conditioning, some see my work as visionary,
some as absurd, some as obscene. But think again - are my visions
really so implausible?" |
