Passion simple

This series of work was started after reading Carol Ann Duffy’s collection of poems entitled ‘Rapture’ – a book-length love poem, a map of real love in all its churning complexity – infatuation, longing, passion, commitment, rancour, separation and grief. I was deeply moved by this collection and my series of work is a response in some way to this. The drawings and paintings aren’t trying to represent a particular poem, rather, they are trying to capture a feeling or mood.

Once the intial trigger has played its part, the process of painting takes over. Making art is a form of play which needs one to be in a responsive state, this allows the work to grow organically and freely. In this series I found myself continually drawn to the same certain colours, motifs and symbols and this repetition of returning to the same things can amplify the emotional response or depth of a drawing or painting. There was a lot of repainting, and, for the works on paper a lot of cutting and reassembling giving a sense of depth to the works as I progressed through the collection.