Some things are bigger than us

Original painting animated in MotionLeap and PowerDirector to form the augmented reality layer. Here’s the painting – download the Artivive app and give it a go! This is an artefact detected by bio-marker search looking for trace materials following historical observation of a planetary system in the region. It was automatically retrieved and delivered to an inspection plate in the isolation lab. Initial inspection suggests it is a construction, non-organic in itself but with traces. There are signs of critical damage. Re-aligning the inspection plate and boosting magnification shows there are protrusions that bear comparison with our own long range … Continue reading Some things are bigger than us

New commission

This is a return gig with a poetry anthology, and I was given three poems to choose from. The one I went for is about urban decay and the awfulness of what’s left of industry, but ends with wildlife, trees and flowers taking over the area. November 11th and we’re a few days on with a hiatus due to an RSI (repetitive strain injury) in my left arm. Totally desk layout related but of course it affects everything I would normally do with my dominant hand or even with both hands, including painting and posting updates. Today it feels a … Continue reading New commission

Temporary home for coursework

10th April 2023. Drawing on Cixin Liu’s reference to van Gogh, string theory, and the reduction of the solar system to two dimensions (Death’s End: Three Body Problem series audio book 2018), this is (hopefully) going to be an exploration of Van Gogh’s approach to a cosmology he could never have seen and, for the latter part, doesn’t actually exist. It’s also in oils which I found in the bottom drawer of a stack. Bit of a first for me. Liu devotes an entire chapter to the dispassionate description of the process of becoming two dimensional. With no drama at … Continue reading Temporary home for coursework

Women victims of domestic violence: a series of pastel paintings

A3 pastel paintings made as part of a series about the effects of repeated concussions (CTE – chronic traumatic encephalopathy) on brain function. Recognised in sports such as rugby and football where concussion time-out is now mandatory, reluctantly in boxing, and barely at all in women victims of domestic violence who have no time-out and no referees to intervene. SCH 2023 Continue reading Women victims of domestic violence: a series of pastel paintings

If you can’t find a gallery that fits …

You just have to build your own! The problem with augmented art is it needs connectivity or it isn’t going to be augmented, and while I make the paintings as standalone as possible, I add the AR as a way for it to speak in a different voice. So it’s a bit like turning up to a ‘do’ in your best frock but without the accessories. Sort of. Locally, there’s barely a phone signal anywhere, and finding a venue with – ok just finding a venue and never mind one with wifi – is well nigh impossible. Solution? A virtual … Continue reading If you can’t find a gallery that fits …