Studio Works
(small artworks)

These paintings are 're'-representations of 'found photographs'. They are referenced by old photographs that have been sourced from garage sales, rubbish bins or roadsides and then uploaded for others to appreciate (there are entire websites dedicated solely to the collection and display of discarded photos). 

 

They depict a slice from a moment of a life that at one point was deemed worthy of a keepsake and then.. unworthy of keeping, either because of being unintentionally disposed of, forgotten, rejected or no longer required. Perhaps the original photographs were discarded as they were deemed a failure to 'capture the moment', were out of focus, poorly cropped, blurry or degraded by time. Perhaps because the content or person depicted was one that someone wished to forget.

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A camera can create a  plethora of instantaneous moments - poorly composed, shaky, blurry images that may fail to 'capture the moment' and so, are thrown away. By painting someones rejected photograph I am examining this unwanted moment. Spending time with it in an attempt to faithly recapture the moment that was deemed worthy of capturing, but then released. The long process of painting these 'failed' images disputes the inadequacies of these slices of life and honours discarded memories. They are liminal spaces, lifetimes of daily slices between the ones we wish to promote of ourselves, those we cherish and keep. I think most of life is made up of these "between moments" the clumsy, sometimes dull and awkward moments that make up a life.