Wunderkammer?

The Wunderkammer, or German for wonder-room, was the 16th Century precursor to the museums we know today. Collections could inhabit a room but also be confined to a cabinet, which lead to its other name as a Cabinet of Curiosities. Wunderkammers were established by people of rank to showcase their place in society or others created by scholars and scientists for study. An entertainment aspect could be present as some of the specimens were not seen by most people and therefore a specimen could have an exotic value because of its rarity. In all cases, the emphasis was on the object itself as deserving of study and appreciation.

My Wunderkammer? work probes something different. We have all heard about the spiritual behind created things, but perceiving the spiritual and observing the material demand different types of vision. As Christ told us, the kingdom of God will not be known through observation, which means there must be another faculty within us to perceive the spiritual behind things. William Blake tells us that there is no such thing as separate body and soul, but rather that they are the same thing. Spinoza tells us that the body and soul are the same thing expressed in two different ways.

This work is a response to the material/spiritual presence we always experience. The question mark of the title is there to question the world of appearances and the colour white was used as an attempt to create a ghost/spiritual object but still be one with its material reality by the thickness of the paint. In this way, two kinds of reality exist at the same time. That is my aim!

The pics below show the Wunderkammer? installation consisting of small paintings and balsa wood models painted with artist's oil prime. I adopted a different palette from what I usually use so for these paintings I used Flake White, Ivory Black, Vermillion and Yellow Ochre. Usually, my choice of colours is white with the three cool primary colours and three warm primary colours - Flake White, Winsor Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Deep, Alizarin Crimson Permanent, Cadmuim Red Deep, French Ultramarine Deep and Cobalt Blue. 

 

Wunderkammer?, 2004

The Christmas Tree

The thing I like most about Christmas is our Christmas Tree. Deborah and I have been gathering Christmas decorations from around the world for decades. We actually have two trees, one is relatively large and the other one is quite small. These pics speak for themselves. Enjoy the sumptuous decorations designed and made by so many throughout the world.

Motifs for Paintings

The pic of this hill has inspired a number of my paintings. The first one I did was close to what the scene looked like, but as I was painting it, I had a number of ideas for other paintings. I imagined a fire across the horizon, a lightning strike at night, the wind sweeping across long dry grass or a line of trees beyond the horizon. Of course, these ideas were not be painted from life because the scenes did not exist but even if they did, it would be impossible to paint lightning from life as it cracks across the sky for only a split second and painting a bush fire close up would not happen. Having said that, the painting with the fire on the horizon, the wind pushing the clouds and grass, and the tops of trees beyond the horizon were all painted at the same spot I did the first en plain air picture. Although I was not painting what was in front of me, returning to the spot seems to keep ideas fresh in my mind. All the other paintings were done in the studio from my imagination, although it was a hill that inspired all of these works.

Shadows on the Hills, 2020, oil on linen, 60.75 x 91.25 cm

Wind Across the Hills, 2021, oil on canvas, 51 x 76.5 cm

Beyond the Hills, 2023, oil on linen, 66.5 x 66,5 cm

The Coming Storm, 2021, oil on canvas, 72.5 x 51cm

Ablaze, 2020, oil on linen, 45 x 35 cm

Fire and Rain, 2021, oil on linen, 50 x 60 cm

Lightning Strike, 202, oil on canvas, 40.75 x 30.25 cm

Moonlight and Fire, 2021, oil on linen, 112 x 76.5 cm

Beyond the Hills

Beyond the Hills, 2023, oil on linen, 65.5 x 65.5 cm

 

This painting was done from two different locations. The hill and clouds were painted first but I wanted a line of trees appearing above and beyond the hill's edge. Since there were no trees there I looked around for a set of trees that would suit the idea I had in mind. My concern was not really the trees, hills and clouds, but the possibility of taking the viewer's gaze into an unknown place. Like something that is an existential journey.

Self Portraits

I've always loved the art of self portraiture. It can provide an opportunity to paint a human figure or be the means to experiment with ideas. I've occasionally used myself as the model in a painting but rarely as a straight forward image. By this I mean that my face or body is presented in an indirect way to express something other than what I look like. This 'something other' can be explained as who are, we? or what are we made of? Most of the images can be located in reality but sometimes a surrealist element does enter the work. 

Artist Profile, 2011, oil on linen, 41 x 31 cm

Painting Drawing, 2010, oil on linen, 30 x 15 cm

Wrapped Self Portrait, 2010, oil on canvas, 45.5 x 35.5 cm

Self Portrait, 1994, dry pastel and pencil, 73 c 50 cm

Quodlibet, 2006, oil on canvas, 122.5 x 81.5 cm

Double Portrait, 2019, oil on canvas, 107 x 84 cm

Quodlibet Self Portrait, 2005, oil on panel, 64 x 49 cm

Insight and Logic, 1995, oil on canvas, 101 x 76.25 cm

Silhouette, 2011, oil on canvas, 50.5 x 40.5 cm