Notes from an Easel-Three new paintings summary by David Van Gough

'Memories Decay'
16" x 20"
Oil on Canvas

When I began this piece, I thought it was to be a play on possession, however, as it evolved I realised that in fact it was a rumination on memories of the dead, and how over time the memory itself erodes and decay's, so one is left with disparate fragments and traces of reality.

'Blue Triumvirate'
16" x 20" Oil on Canvas
I wanted to revisit this piece with the emphasis that it would express an emotional transition, as opposed to just it's initial metaphorical concept. The sense is that there has been a shift in the way I feel about things-more of a somber melancholy, and dare I say (almost) an acceptance in the softened cool hues, as opposed to the harsh, stark angularity of bleached bone.


'Mentors Shadow'
16" x 20"
Oil on Canvas


In the melting forms of liquified ridges and hollow cavities, is the Triumvirate biomorphing into an enigmatic, formless mass, constantly in flux and trying to reformulate itself. Like a lava flow, it is a paradox of fire and water, like the process of my own grief and the way I have accomodated it in my work. There is a great dichotomy that suggests a natural order or rites of passage to confronting ones own mortality after a bereavement, in that same sense this ghost would not exist otherwise.


All three pieces will be premiered at the Hive featured show this coming Saturday.