- Acrylic on canvas
- 91.5cm x 152.5cm
The production of this canvas was inspired by my visit to Manchester Pride’s Out in the city event and the discussion surrounding the development of art and readings of art alongside the opening up of freedom of expression for gay people. The colour of the canvas makes reference to Derek Jarman’s work ‘Queer’, which is housed at Manchester’s City Art Gallery, offering a counterpoint to the male dominated discourse on sexuality which prevails in many public institutions. The multitude of shades of colour and the delicate intersperses of rainbow colours brings more subtlety to the work, indicating a link between homosexual love and the words below, but perhaps acknowledging the spectrum of difference within the lesbian and gay community itself – sexuality cannot be pigeon-holed in the way that society would like it to be.
I have a great interest in words and how we use them. Words fail to fully and wholly describe our exact meanings, leading to mis-communication and confusion. In the case of this work the word ‘just’ brings into question the meaning of the statement as a whole. Taken out of context and away from verbal and body language the statement languishes at the bottom of the sheet, as if the thought has been dragged out of the expressor; the word ‘just’ somehow diminishing the statement to a disposable romantic narrative. The way that the words are scrawled nonchalantly across the canvas, gouging out the paint, hints at a kind of carelessness or reticence, alluding to the difficulties involved in expressions of love.
