Liberating Laurence - 2009
Two paintings of Laurence emerging through a window, from a light space into a darker place, is an experiment with taking a figure, Laurence, from a two-dimensional world into a three-dimensional one. He has come through the window into another existence. He has literally been cut from the canvas with a scalpel and released from the confines of the painting.
I have temporarily reinstated the cut-out figure, back onto the canvas where he will never comfortably fit again. The result of cutting him from the painting resulted in distortions, as the limbs turn and appear edge on, making strange lines and folds.
The aim is to place the life size figure in many different situations. Releasing Laurence into a three-dimensional world was akin performance art. The empty space on the canvas can also be viewed, free standing, with a different view from the white studio walls.
Works from this series have been shown at The Old Hyde Laundry, Winchester in 2009 and the New Rembrandt Gallery Newport, Isle of Wight in 2012.
Artists who have influenced this work are:
- Francis Bacon "In Memory of George Dyer 1971". Triptych.
- Lucio Fontana "Spatial Concept 1957"
- Giulio Paolini. "Hi Fi 1965"
- Sam Taylor Wood "Pieta 2001"
- Salvador Dali "Self Portrait Splitting Into Three 1927"
- Picasso "Guernica"
Page last updated: 06 March 2022