Internal Folds of the External Maze 2018

These pieces provide a further exploration of themes that I began to develop in the Positive and Negative series of 2017.

The difference in this work is that the folded plaster of paris bandage is contained within the frame of a stretched canvas, rather than having a freeform shape. This makes the finished piece more manageable and able to sustain its original shape in a permanent form.

After completion the positive bandage piece was moved carefully onto a new blank canvas, leaving the negative image behind on the original canvas. This captured the negative image of the piece on a solid white background, as apposed to the more ephemeral, cellophane used for previous works.

This separation created two works of art that could be hung independently or side by side. As I created two pieces alongside each other when the process was complete I had four works of art - two being the mirror images of each other - which could be hung together in several different combinations. It amounts to a modular approach that provides great flexibility in how it can be presented.

The Internal folds of an internal mazerepresents endless internalised states of mind. It could be a trap or a place of safely depending on your viewpoint. To me, each of the individual pieces represents a strong sense of the self.

It consists of two contrasting forms: the solidity of the positive bandage pieces, representing the objective, tangible, or the subjectivity of the negative; and the more ephemeral image in the silhouette paintings that represent the more intangible side of life. Both parts are created together then pulled apart to form the two individual pieces, enabling me to examine them separately. It reflects the view that in life there is always a confluence of the two states of mind, and the four pieces together start to create community, a society of individuals. They are fully formed and rounded entities.

Covering an entire wall with these works would be a step towards the creation of a community of inclusivity, hopefully providing beacon of hope in what seems to be an increasingly polarised society.