Subjects & Symbols
Creating this collection is the amalgamation of years of work. It was designed to pull together repeating themes in my practice and to showcase them using a medium that could add to those ever-present concepts. Some of those ideas have changed over time, or matured to be more present than I was previously aware. But however they were first conceived, these works find themselves in a new context and in doing so have changed again.
At first glance, this is a collection of figurative portraits and wildlife paintings. The aim though has never been to accurately capture the sitter, whether it be man or beast. These are simply vessels used to convey something else, they became the symbols for the message and emotion they carry.
The paintings examine how we fail, how we suffer loss or hurt and how we come through these experiences. At our lowest we can feel broken and mental anguish can become both physical and spiritual pain. This can occur for countless reasons, it is up to the viewer to look back and recognise what their own may be. But by going through such struggle we can come out changed; stronger, more resilient, richer in spirit and more indomitable of will. Ultimately to succeed you must first fail, and fail again. It is how we learn and grow. These subjects look at that experience of being broken and coming out stronger for it. They become symbols of that transformation.
The work takes influence from the Japanese art of Kintsugi. This is a practice where instead of throwing away broken pottery, it is repaired by using gold to join the fractured pieces. The item is seen as being more valuable for its history and its imperfection, so actual value in the form of gold is added to it. The life of the object is highlighted by the cracks it now displays, it has become greater for having them.
The gold symbols that appear in my work (using actual gold for the oil paintings) is a nod to the Japanese art and shared values it has. The symbols created are to emphasise that the paintings are just that, symbols, and should be viewed as such. The irony has not been lost on me that gold is used for its value, a value now being challenged by the same blockchain technology these works exist on.
By using NFTs as the medium for this collection it allows the artworks to experiance the theme they explore. Collectors can become creators but in doing so they must first destroy the work they have purchased. The decision may be difficult, risky, even painful. But the process will create something new and utterly unique, richer for the history it has been through.
This replicates the very concept these works embody. Being broken apart to form something new and even more valuable. It is something that can only be done using the medium of NFTs whilst at the same time exploring other concepts inherent to this new artistic frontier. But more on that another time…
If you’ve ever felt broken, this is the collection for you.
-David
