Twelve Selves (Selve One), 2017, Oil on Linen, 140 x 100cm
The series 'Twelve Selves' started with the image I used for the mugshot self portrait 'Fear no.1' of 2013 in which I attempted to imagine myself as a victim of the NKVD, Stalin's secret police. What had started as a (perhaps uncharacteristic) instance of introspection on my part turned into something that morphed into both an existential meditation and a journey of painterly exploration. I started with that original portrait of myself and then riffed on it using various painterly devices that tended to degrade and obscure the image. I have for a long time been fascinated by Warhol's 'Oxidation' (or piss) paintings, and some way through this series I hit upon the idea of incorporating reactive metallic paints with inkjet transfers of the original portrait. The metaphor being, I suppose, the decline and deterioration of the physical body that accompanies ageing, the inevitable chemical change that awaits us all - mortality. Along the way are allusions, perhaps to Magritte's 'The Son of Man' and certainly to Malevich's 'Black Square', which is itself now cracked and faded after a hundred years.
What had started out as Twelve is now approaching Fifty. But I liked the sound of Twelve because it is a number loaded with symbolism (Hours on the clock, months of the year, apostles etc). And not least because it rhymed.
I of the Beholder, 2018, Inkjet transfer, linen, Caligo Butterfly, glass, wood and gold leaf, 32.5x26.5cm
Installation View
Installation View
Twelve Selves (Selve Two), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on Linen, 140 x 100cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Three), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on Linen, 140 x 100cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Four) , 2017, Oil on Linen, 140 x 100cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Five), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 140 x 100cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Six), 2017, Oil and reactive metallic paint on linen, 140 x 100cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Seven), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 140 x 100cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Eight), 2017, Oil on Linen, 140 x 100cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Nine), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 140 x 100cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Ten, Homage to Kazimir Malevich), 2017, Oil on Linen, 140 x 100cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Eleven), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 140 x 100cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Twelve), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 140 x 100cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Thirteen), 2017, Oil on Linen, 140 x 100cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Fourteen), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 140 x 100cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Fifteen), 2017, Oil and inkjet Transfer on Linen, 55 x 40cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Sixteen), 2017, Oil and Inkjet Transfer on Linen, 55 x 40cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Seventeen), 2017, Oil and Inkjet Transfer on Linen, 55 x 40cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Eighteen), 2017, Oil and Inkjet Transfer on Linen, 55 x 40cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Nineteen), 2017, Oil and Inkjet Transfer on Linen, 55 x 40cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Twenty), 2017, Oil and Inkjet Transfer on Linen, 55 x 40cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Twenty One), 2017, Oil and Inkjet Transfer on Linen, 55 x 40cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Twenty Two), 2017, Oil and Inkjet Transfer on Linen, 55 x 40cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Twenty Three), 2017, Oil and Inkjet Transfer on Linen, 55 x 40cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Twenty Four), 2017, Oil and Inkjet Transfer on Linen, 55 x 40cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Twenty Five), 2017, Oil and Inkjet Transfer on Linen, 55 x 40cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Twenty Six), 2017, Oil and Inkjet Transfer on Linen, 55 x 40cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Twenty Seven), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Twenty Eight), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Twenty Nine), 2017, Oil and Inkjet Transfer on Linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Thirty), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Thirty One), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Thirty Two), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Thirty Three), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Thirty Four), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Thirty Five), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Thirty Six), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Thirty Seven), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Thirty Eight), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Thirty Nine), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Forty), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Forty One), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Forty Two), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Forty Three), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Forty Four), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Forty Five), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Forty Six), 2017, Inkjet transfer and reactive metallic paint on linen, 40 x 30cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Forty Seven), 2017, Oil and Inkjet Transfer on Linen, 55 x 40cm
Twelve Selves (Selve Forty Eight), 2017, Oil and Inkjet Transfer on Linen, 55 x 40cm