What is left in a relationship when everything that can be removed is stripped away? What is left to hold on to? When removing the aesthetic of human beauty ideals, clothing, fashion and all concept of accumulated possessions, what remains? I would argue that what is left is how each person thinks. If you find a person’s thinking attractive, even when you disagree, then undertaking even the simplest things in life together becomes enjoyable.

These four paintings represent a relationship stripped back of everything external, leaving only the company, conversation, and thinking of another person. For my partner and I these times include going for walks together, often through the local park where people take their dogs. Enjoying tea together, in our wedding vows we specifically said, “I will make you tea”. Shopping for fresh food, cooking meals and eating together and, in the spring, enjoying mulberries together from the ‘dessert trees’ around our neighbourhood.

The overarching theme is that the good moments, the happy moments, the meaningful moments of life come through a connection to what exists, not through the accumulation of what exists.

Interested to know more about how I arrived at this… keep reading.

Some may argue that a strong connection to an acquired object could provide meaning and happiness. For example, the connection to a surfboard, a bicycle or even a pair of nice shoes could deliver contentment. I would rebut this by saying that the connection to these objects in isolation does not provide contentment. These kinds of objects are merely tools to be utilised on a journey to reaching contentment. By this I mean that a surfboard connects you to the sport of surfing. On its own, it is merely an object. A bicycle is a tool for travel. The point of the bicycle is to ride the bicycle, the relationship is one of utility, not one where the object directly leads to a meaningful connection between the individual and the object. Essentially, the bicycle does not give back to the individual who owns it; the bicycle provides a conduit through which the owner can have certain experiences that they could not have had without the bicycle. The bicycle is the tool required for the experience. Shoes are similar kinds of objects. On their own they have a utility, however, for example, in the context of fashion, hiking, or specialised climbing shoes, they provide a conduit to an experience that an individual would not be able to have without those particular shoes.

This leads to a slightly more difficult question: What about objects that are created only for their aesthetic value, that is, objects of art? A work of art might have been created to serve no other purpose than its aesthetic value. Therefore, the owner of the artwork has an object that provides them with no utility save for an aesthetic. I would argue that the contemplative relationship that exists when a work of art is viewed is enough to create a connection to the existence of the work. Essentially, if a work of art can make an individual think, then a connection has taken place. By way of example, a brightly coloured abstract painting may serve no other purpose than to look good above the sofa. It is this judgement of ‘looking good’ that has created a connection to what exists. It would not matter if the person making the judgement owned the work or not, their judgement would still be the same. This therefore highlights that the pleasure of the experience comes through the connection to what exists, not the accumulation of what exists.

What then, do the previous two paragraphs have to do with my paintings? When I started thinking about the concept for this series of work, I found myself drawn to themes of politics and the environment, which inevitably led to thoughts along the negative spectrum of human existence. However, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t spend months of my time bogged down in the detailed analysis of the negative traits of humanity. I’ve previously spent plenty of time doing that and it becomes a drain, not only on myself, but I also think it becomes a drain on those viewing the work. I began, instead, to think about the positive aspects of the human condition. Specifically, I spent time thinking on where the happy, meaningful moments of life arrive from. Eventually I settled my thinking on this as the connection to what exists, not the accumulation of what exists. Applying this thinking to relationships, and how the really good ones are built through connection rather than any material objectivity, is what led me to visually represent the stripping back of the layers that encrust a relationship and explore what lies at the very core. The skeletal form is visually as stripped back as one can get when it comes to humans. Pairing that with a lightness, a happiness, that comes through a bright pallet and the representation of enjoyable experiences, experiences that directly lead to connection, is how these four paintings came into existence.