
On the theme of Samuel Beckett (PUSH).
Acrylic, pencil, and oil paint. 70 x 92cm. 26 November – January 2021.
This work had a lot of thought and time put into it. I treated it as a commission from a patron, researching and taking notes to make a multi layered painting. I joked that it was fitting that the painting I was making was an essay in failure! Enjoyable. It’s also closer to home, without meaning it to be. The work limped to a stop, the closed (golden) notebook was the last touch.
Here’s a ‘key’ for the painting:
Remaking and revision until the work being left
Mistakes on top of mistakes
Concious seperation from the viewer
Vision or the lack of vision
Putting the creator on a pedestal
Handsomeness and it’s part in lasting fame
Vanity
Quality and it’s opposite
Growth and inevitably, death
A soiled nature
A closed notebook
Unreadable and unknowable text
A ribbon of tape and two rocks, as symbols for Krapp’s Last Tape and Waiting For Godot
A sealed room
A sly, black humour




Details, showing the different textures and layers.








The original life study, sketches and notes, the work in progress, reference images. I watched and listened to Waiting For Godot and listened to the In Our Time episode and different biographical programs. All interesting and enjoyable in their own way.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00021q7