Portraiture has always been an integral part of my work. As much as I have tried to step away from it as a subject, something inexplicable draws me back in.
It is the idea of this mysterious pull that I am continuously attempting to capture. But how does one grasp something that does not exist? It is this very question that I ask myself on a daily basis. The constant deployment of questions act as a motivation and the pretext of my current practice.
But why am I so fascinated in the human form? As a child I had an imaginary friend. I would often see a figure. Unable to situate his identity I gave him the name Water-Face. I assume I gave him this title because of the lack of identifying features; or perhaps his changing features – his face looked like moving water. Growing up with this memory I have repeatedly considered its meaning. His lack of identity allowed for questions concerning the significance of the guise, the substance of the self and how we present ourselves to the world. He has become the ghost of everyone, in everyone, a figure who stands somewhere between the real and the subconscious.
My practice takes shape from the narratives of film, literature, folktales and family anecdotes. Characters, plot lines and histories from these spaces come to life and cement themselves into my personal language. On the surface my work appears to obtain familiar subjects in the form of portraiture. Even though the current work doesn’t directly reference the character Water-Face, I feel his presence remains significant in setting up foundations for continual exploration into related ideas. Water-Face maintains his anonymity. His indefinable disposition illustrates the transient and insoluble nature of existence.
The work has progressed beyond literal interpretations and into a phantasmal realm. It is this illusory state which affirms the position of the subconscious in my practice. The potential for what is hidden holds the possibility of further implications. I attack each drawing, painting or sculpture in an intuitive manner, allowing the subconscious to direct the outcome of the work and the possibilities of further exploration.
I often reflect on the indication of another reality, which is ungraspable, a reality that holds a subtext for deeper contemplation. Like a reflection, which is not only visible but also invisible, I place importance in the juxtaposition of the real and unreal. Fiction is an underlying basis in my method of relating ideas and applications. By drawing on and highlighting the treatment of fiction, I’m able to convey thoughts on consciousness, the unconscious and the grey area in between. It is the continual slippage between the two that form a coherent narrative.
A tension between a physical and psychological dimension of the human being circulates in my mind, forming my language and my portraiture.
