This series of work is based on the news stories in the weekly economist newspaper and juxtaposes them with problems from my life in an exploration of grim or macabre humour. When finished the series will consist of 52 works representing the span of 2022.
The series is meant to be funny, so have a grim laugh.
Each work embodies a comment on the affairs of the world that week. The final subject is a metaphor for the issues beyond my sphere of influence, as well as my real actual problem. The meaning of the metaphor is subjective.
The final subject comes to me during the course of the painting, usually towards the end in an unconscious process. One of the many things in my sphere that needs to be fixed will appear in my mind.
Overall the construction of the series juxtaposes the ordinary person’s actual sphere of influence with an aspirational sphere of influence. For example, an ordinary person can fix the broken gate but cannot fix the Russian-Ukrainian issue – despite an unconscious aspiration to do so. The red veil separates the possible from the impossible.
The video will usually begin with purely abstract forms that convey the feeling of the week’s issues almost musically, the subjects may become symbolic as the stories crystallise, then the style turns representational for the final subject. That unfolding sequence reveals a direct connection between the stories of the week that are outside my influence and the problem that’s within my influence. All the elements are visible after the red veil is applied, which means the possible is connected to the impossible, in some way.
The red veil also separates the known from the unknown abstractly. Imagine we started with my actual problem and could foresee all the things that would be affected as a consequence of me fixing it. For example, imagine if when the gate is fixed it means our dog does not get out and run on the road, so then a car crash does not happen, so a diplomat survives, who goes on to solve the Russian-Ukrainian problem. This is an example of the butterfly effect. We cannot know the consequences of our actions that exist but are unknown behind the red veil in an abstract reverse view. Maybe fixing my things will create world peace.