Works Available: In Memory
 

In Memory	Oil & Gold Leaf on Linen	32"x25"	£3400
This work came out of one of those chance experiences that occur quite unexpectedly. I was in Whitehall, trying to cross the road through heavy traffic when I noticed that I was standing on the island that supports the Cenotaph. Remembrance Sunday had been a few days earlier and the Monument was still covered in wreaths left by the participants in the ceremony. All the tributes were constructed from the same materials, presumably from the same manufacturer. They had been placed in strict heirarchical order: the Queens at the top, the Prime Minister's marginally below hers these were followed by those that had been presented by the great and good of the Commonwealth. The largest wreath was at the top and those that followed gradually decreased in size. On the ground, pierced through with the points from stiletto heels and trodden into the grime of the pavement was a hand written note. It is this that forms the text for In Memory. I wondered if it had been those who were only going through the motions of remembrance that had trodden on the note. It was the gulf between the empty hypocritical sentiments of the official wreaths and the much simpler sincere expressions in the personal tribute that made me want to paint this picture. From the beginning it seemed right to reproduce the note using enduring materials, gold leaf and linen. I wanted to make permanent both the dead, whose lives and deaths remain anonymous, and the sincere sense of loss the writers expressed some fifty years later.

 
If you would like to buy this work, please see the purchasing page for more details.

Back to the Works Available gallery.