Art Work - Processes
Much of my recent work has drawn inspiration from John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. The work is an allegory, and that format has helped me approach sensitive material obliquely. The central character of the work, Christian, travels on a journey, a pilgrimage, and meets many dangers and characters, all named according to the threat they pose or the characteristics they represent.
A sketch of an incident on the bus in Peckham, drawn into the Pilgrim's progress allegory and with an incongruous image of a city in a desert visible through the bus window
I began the Pilgrim's Progress series with a small sketch (below) of a man leaving a city in the desert which was being bombed by aircraft. I have abandoned the aircraft images in the more recent work, as too sensitive and, arguably, partisan.
I am intending to carve a wooden sculpture of Christian the pilgrim, either under his heavy burden or having been caught by Giant Despair. The sculpture will be painted and will have the City of Destruction, abandoned by Christian, in the background.
I have found a reasonably substantial piece of yew, the unusual shape of which will dictate the form I am able to create, and I have bought some old wood carving chisels.
I'm interested to see how working in three dimensions, in a hard wood of very particular and uneven shape, changes how I view my subject matter and its treatment. The (most recent) sketch on the right reflects some of the challenges posed by the shape of the wood.
Early pencil sketches from my notebook of Christian and Giant Despair
