Phantom Cities

Exhibited with Colin Blundell at the Bear Steps Gallery, Shrewsbury Nov/Dec 2006

 

These constructed relief paintings and photographs contrast the geometric city architecture of steel and glass with more natural forms and organic development. See the Cities gallery for photographs that inspired some of these paintings.

 
 

Facade
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Facade detail
City architecture is an expression of human spirit and achievement, full of energy and dynamism. And yet the immense size and harsh, artificial materials of many buildings marginalise humans to the point where our “image” of a city may often not contain any people. My work explores this paradox of how we have become phantoms in our own cities. .
 
 

Dark in the Daytime
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Reflections
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Reflections II
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I am fascinated by the abstract shapes created by city buildings and their reflections in windows, as they seem to merge seamlessly into the sky.
 
 
The following relief constructions are influenced by the geometric, rhythmic repetition of urban architectural details. The works suggest reflective and weathered surface finishes of glass and steel.
 
 

Inner Form
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Inner Form detail
Inner Form detail 2
 
 

Outer Form
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Outer Form detail
 
 

Defender
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Defender detail
Defender detail 2
 
 

Waveform
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Waveform detail
Waveform detail 2
 
 
These following relief constructions are symbolic of a more organic emergence of cities, reminiscent of the honeycomb structure of bee hives or other insect colonies.
 
 

Colony II
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Colony II detail
Colony
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Fence
Colony III detail
Colony III
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The Phantom Group comprises the relief construction of One Thousand Years and a collection of photographs of the construction itself.
 
 

One Thousand Years
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Phantom
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One Thousand Years is representative of an ancient city that has grown over centuries with its own history and folklore. The multi level architecture is derived from north african and middle eastern towns. Its map-like form is reminiscent of an archaeological dig emerging from the desert.

The phantom just visible in each of the photographs of the "city" in this instance is symbolic of the history and, perhaps, the now forgotten former inhabitants of the city.
 
 

Phantom 4
Phantom 2
Phantom 7
 
 

Phantom 5
Phantom 11
Phantom 6
 
 

Phantom 3
Phantom 9
Phantom 8
 
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