THE NAUTICAL THEME

Some words of explanation......
My work is centred around the theme of the passage of time which is naturally a dominant reality for all of us and for everything. I have long been intrigued by how inanimate objects live along side us , almost as spectators to the lives we lead. Like us they change in time and are physically affected by their surroundings but unlike us they last for longer and sometimes forever. It seems they bear witness to the human condition……. our constant attempts to make sense of our existence. They on the other hand do not have to worry about such things; they simply watch. I have worked with only a couple of images over the past 4 years : the firework and the navigational buoy. Both of which, to me, are inspiring objects in themselves but also have come to take on a symbolic significance of ourselves and of the lives we live.

The association with the sea is an important one; I have long been interested in the sea. That's where I'm from. The experience of the coastline, boats and ships, docks and harbours and the sea itself are part of my life as I grew up with these things. I have always been drawn to the debris of the coast ; on beaches and in harbours - particualrly boat yards.
As a youngster our family all went on regular sailing trips. My father was in the Navy and a very keen sailor. We had been all over the place but with his death a few years ago the trips have stopped.
There used to be a wonderful place in Portsmouth (Eastney) where generations of boats had been just left to rot. They slowly break down like decomposing hulks; bits fall off exposing the next layer and the structural skeletal frame. It always made me think of an elephants graveyard (not that I have ever seen one). I used to make paintings using all the bits of boat that I would pick up. The remants would be the starting point for a piece of work that tried to be nothing more than an attempt to convey the feelings I get from these places.

This was 15 years ago and I have returned to the same subject over the past year.

I have been using the image of the navigational buoys as a starting point in this recent work. This is for a number of reasons. They act as a good vehicle from which to explore and present these ideas of mine.....They are instantly recognisable and one does not need to know what their specific meaning or function is ( in nautical terms) in order to be struck by their sheer physical presence. They are great shapes and colours. Structurally robost and patched up. Peeling paint and rust , stenciled text and signs. They are isolated beacons, symbols of survival , sculptural heroes, enduring everything that the elements can throw at them.

The recent paintings share similar physical properties with their subject matter. The paintings are made on metal with a wooden constructed housing around the edges. Bits have been physically added onto the suface as required. The surface painted, and over painted, and then maybe removed and painted again. The surface has had text embossed into it and screen printed on to it. Sometimes this is clearly visible and sometimes it is almost gone, eroded away and unreadable......although once it was. Some of the texts are arbituary extracts taken from navigational text books removed from context . Some are parts of poems or even a sea shanty. I have used the text from a well known hymn (Eternal Father) on a number of pieces.This being particualry poigniant as it is known as the Naval Hymn and was sung at my Father's funeral after which I cast his ashes into the sea. The text is often worked over and sometimes it is completely obliterated.

The work is essentially made from memory and by using bits that I pick up from boat yards or whatever I fancy. They are the depiction of my memories and experiences (past + present)of that world. The shapes could relate to a boat , a lighthouse , a buoy and tanker, a Napoleonic Fort in the Solent , a rocky cliff and coastline.......