Ode to Hope 2023-

My most recent art project, Ode to Hope, is based on a poem of the same name by Pablo Neruda. Written between 1954-7, it is a haunting elegy about nature’s elemental power and beauty, and the uncertainty of our future and place within a rapidly changing landscape. The poem is set beside the sea and in many ways is a continuation of the maritime based ideas I explored with my DYCP grant, Holding the Horizon in 2021-2 and Deadpan 2019-2020. Like the poem itself, my aim with this artwork is to acknowledge the uncertainty of our times but also create a sense of groundedness and courage and demonstrate the vital role creativity has in helping us define a better and different future. 

As with much of my previous work there is an interest in creating immersive environments with my paintings, playing with detail as a way of drawing the viewer’s attention and utilising repetition to generate a durational (elongated and expansive) sense of time and space. The difference with this work is that I want to be more experimental with the way it is exhibited, present it in different ways, settings and contexts and explore the different effects that this creates and alter the way it is can be achieved effect of the work and how it might be received by presenting it in different ways, settings and contexts. Ideally I am trying to encourage more direct engagement with my work across multiple spheres of life. 

Ode to Hope consists of 64 panels (each 25 x 60cm) that, when combined, make a 16m long painting with a rotational/zoetrope like effect.