Weapon 3, 1988
Offset Lithograph
Edition of 40
21 1/2 x 30 in
Collaborative Printer: Bob Franklin
One of the most difficult issues to assimilate, and one which really breaks the service of my work, is politics. Like so many of my friends, I experienced genuine anger, frustration and a sense of outrage to which I can find no effective articulation. The show covers the period of 1979 through '94. Dominated by a political agenda diametrically opposed to everything I cared about. Around me I see every institution under direct attack—the NHS, education, the Arts, Social Services, immigration, the law, the coal industry (and there are others). All under the hammer of a political orthodoxy that seems to understand only self-interest, short-termism, political expediency and market forces.
My own work does not engage with these issues directly despite my strong feelings but does not mean that they do not impinge upon the work in some subtle way. The Weapon Series makes a direct reference to my views on whaling, especially by the Norwegians and the Japanese. At the same time, however, I acknowledge my work owes much to the extraordinary quality of space and silence that typifies traditional Japanese architecture. The vertical painted panels (screens) bisected by a wooden bar/Harpoon could refer to an aspect of Japanese culture that I reject. A very positive experience that I fully expect to have an impact on my work has been an incredibly interesting trip to Rajasthan, although the process may take some time to emerge.
