Rearrangement required, oil on linen, 85cm x 85cm, 2021. £4250
May 2021
REARRANGEMENT REQUIRED
Rearrangement required is designed and composed like a still life. It brings together objects of pandemic living such as masks, hand gel, disinfectant washing powder and tissue paper. We have all become familiar with these items, they have gained their own meaning to us. Thus tissues may imply attempts at keeping areas clean from virus or worries about runny noses having graver implications than they ever had. The crystal ball symbolises possible future outcomes while marbles may be crumbs of entertainment and joy. There needs to be hope and there always needs to be a way out of a painting. “Rearrangement required’ has been equipped with the candle I read as the light at the end of the tunnel, that has taken a solid place in my pandemic paintings.
(Please scroll down to the end of this page for close up images of the painting >)
Rearrangement required is one of the paintings that I have assigned to the things we do series, created from around April 2020 and during lockdown into 2021. No models were available and there was nowhere else to go either, so everything took place in the house and studio and I modelled for myself.
There was a certain amount of mess and chaos that arrived with these projects and at times it felt a little like a bizarre fetish, arranging objects that were signs of the sad truth of the time and rummaging through all of it barely clothed. I do find it all fits in with the theme things we do. The things we did and things we thought, the confusion, desires and feeling of loss are probably all hidden somewhere in those actions and images, at least in a symbolic way. We live with rituals every day, be it from those that keep us fed and washed to those that give us a sense of meaning in life. On this trajectory the works I am currently planning are loosely based on the idea of rituals.
Images 1- 3 from left to right:
1) Starting the set by throwing some crumpled blue roll about
2) gradually building a set
3) I like to add some architecture or structure to my painting and collect images for this reason. Some times I get extra lucky and their story overlaps with the soul of the painting. I used this image of an old slaughter house in Shanghai for the composition of rearrangement required.
I usually work in series so setting up for one project or image often leaks into another and sometimes I experiment with ideas on the go. Here I was also checking the lighting but I have some shots which may appear somewhere else in the future. Another Soliloquy maybe…
The painting is not yet varnished. Once it is varnished the darks will be darker and the contrast higher- as it looked when it was freshly painted.
in context/ in situ (there really is an app for everything!)
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This painting is available for purchase yet reserved to be displayed at an exhibition in the summer of 2022. You you have any further questions or are interested in acquiring this piece please email me.