Our own wilderness

This five-panel painting was originally conceived as a triptych based on a combination of early Christian art and Picasso’s masterpiece, Guernica. My aim was to create a major work showing human sacrifice and suffering. This was compounded by the shocking images on television of ‘9/11’, the attack on the World Trade Center in New York.The painting should be viewed from left to right. Along the visual journey one can find symbols from ancient to modern man, illustrating how our priorities have changed by our impact on the landscape. Prehistoric standing stone, earthworks and other pagan monuments mingle with white horses cut into the chalk hillsides. Church spires and Christian crosses are juxtaposed with modern communication masts and wind farm generators. Functionality and practicality outwardly appear to have submerged spirituality, although I believe that all such monuments, ancient and modern, have more to do with our attempts to understand the meaning of life and survival than their immediate function might at first suggest. This is a very personal work, full of conflict, confusion, anxiety and hope. The miracle of our lives is often taken for granted and during our lifetime we seem to spend so much effort chasing the wrong path or ignoring those close to us. One’s very existence is so fragile and anything could change in a fraction of a second. The vision here is my own wilderness and I do not fully understand the entire work myself. All I can say is that it reflects my passion for life and serves as a reminder that we must learn from our experiences. ‘Our own wilderness’ speaks for itself about the universal issues that have always and will continue to concern us all.”