"Used, abused - monster" 2017. Oil on board. 111cmx84cm.
"HIDDEN MONSTER" is a totally new series of works that deals with the issues of loneliness, isolation, abandonment, negative reaction, pain, depression, physical instability, poverty, all created by sudden physical disability due to spinal injury. Through these works I convey my own personal experiences of this, by using a visual motif of the "masked man". Through this motif, various compositions, emotions and situations can be brought to life in painted form.
In 1986, I created an installation piece at North Warwickshire College of Technology and Art entitled "Tired". It was constructed from found items, and received favourable responses from the staff at the art department. The face of the figure in the piece was a mask constructed from painted card taken from rough imaginings of tribal masks. The mask has now been brought back into these works, as a motif to put a visual signature on them. Part autobiographical, this masked figure is being put into all manner of visual compositions to do not only with physical disability and the ripple effect it has on all sorts of aspects of one's life, but also this masked character is a "creative", and can be surrounded by his creations that come out of isolation.
These works are just the start of a whole new ongoing series of two dimensional images, including drawings, paintings and printmaking, that may progress into reliefs and sculpture. All manner of techniques and materials are used to create striking and descriptive works.