We're six weeks into Lockdown here in the UK and I’ve been pondering my own artistic response to the times we find ourselves in. Other artists around me are responding in their own way, like my friends, George & Shane, from The Powdered Earth who have recorded tracks that "came out of the emotional and physical impact of the early weeks of the unfolding story".
We've collaborated before and I was touched that they played me an early sketch of the tracks and asked me to make some art to go with it. I was pleased to have something to focus my efforts on, layering their stories with my own.
The images I’ve created for this project are all digital collages using scans of gel prints that I’ve previously made. There's a lot of layering and then rubbing away to see what is revealed beneath. I love the process! The images have different styles but have all been made the same way using the same ingredients. And there is a gold thread that runs through each of them. I'll show the others over subsequent posts but here's the first one I made.
With this first image, I wanted it to be abstract, not too literal, and really simple. I wanted it to be quick, without too much forethought, just tapping into the unconscious and seeing what emerged. The image goes with the track - 'Everyone we Knew'. Check out the guys site to read the lyrics and have a listen.
The slash of colour across this one can speak of separation. A meditation on that which connects us and that which separates us. There are themes of 'above' and 'below'. You can interpret the larger circle as God and/or the sun - or not. But even with distance, or separation, the circles are all related, all cut from the same source.
I did two variations - A gold one, to carry the gold thread throughout the pieces:
And a silver one, a moon version that I think is my favourite:
