MON 29 MARCH 2021
After a 4 year gap, a new 'City of Glass' painting': 'the triad of selves', (p:6, 'City of Glass'), the interchangeable identities of Daniel Quinn, William Wilson, Max Work - author, pseudonym, fictional detective. The painting focuses on Quinn's return to the now empty apartment on E69th St in the novel's final pages, as he reflects on 'the life he had lived before the story began'. For many reasons, this had to be a blue painting. The trio of identities are referenced by the three linear circles of the empty plate on the floor, the rounded light fitting and the middle circle in the column of dots, in turn a representation of Quinn's red-notebook...
The breakthrough was in painting the same circle, then the associations came flooding in. The circles, of course, bring in spatial complexities and ambiguities: if they are same-size, are they on the same plane or is it 'illusionist' co-incidence, i.e. they are different sizes but 'appear' same-size. The question distorts and twists the space incessantly...
The painting has a satisfying visual and contextural harmony - looking forward to showing it for the first time in 'Painting the Novel, at Linden Hall Studio, at the end of June.
detail 1
The painting was started in the 'INTERIOR: Painting the Room' online workshop that I hosted recently. For my painting, I chose the small empty room in the Stillman apartment on E69th St, where 'City of Glass' ends. A room of sadness, reflection and despair - this had to be a blue painting. What to include? A room 10 x 6ft, four white walls, a wooden floor, a small window, a light fitting, a tray with a plate of food and carafe of wine, an adjoining windowless bathroom. The most important item, Quinn's red notebook, the last pages filling up fast, the last sentence: 'What will happen when there are no more pages in the red notebook?'
detail 2
Friday
'Painting the Novel', a solo-exhibition at Linden Hall Studio, Deal, 27 June-17 July 2021'