Ruth Borchard Prize exhibition, and "Squid of Doom"
Happy Thursday!
If you're following my social media, you may already know I was honoured to have my painting selected for the online exhibition of the biennial Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize. Borchard had a great eye, and from the 1950s onwards bought up self portraits by contemporary artists, many turning out to be famous.
She described this search for self-portraits as ‘dowsing for talent’, visiting many leading contemporary London galleries, both established and avant-garde, and the annual Young Contemporaries exhibitions - deliberately refraining from reading exhibition reviews - in her quest to find works showing a solid body of craftsmanship and singular honesty as well as expressing an emotive quality, the essential ‘cri de coeur’.
I thoroughly recommend a browse through the longlisted entries here . Many are available to buy, mine is towards the end (or shortcut here).
By the way, I haven't announced anything on social media, but as a subscriber I'm just letting you know that this self portrait is in line for some considerable publicity, on the TV, in the autumn. Watch this space!
Visit my portraits portfolio to see many examples (mostly commissions), and don't hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss a project for yourself/a loved one.
Talking of ‘cri de coeur’, I'm working on a hapless squid. I love sharing the process and decision making, here's yesterday's progress demo:
Click to watch video
Historically, still lifes have been loaded with moralising symbolism. Different objects are recognised as indicating different concepts such as greed, the fleetingness of life, etc.
Personally, I enjoy their potential as a vehicle for playing with projected emotions. And of course textures! This painting is a metaphor for futile optimism, and conversely hopelessness - the viewer is in the position of the hobby cook (surely no professional chef would drink wine while prepping). The dead squid gives the illusion of being conscious of the inevitable knife, and appears to entreat the viewer to help. The snails remain buoyant in the face of doom-in-progress, gorging on parsley, and curious. A bit like gallow knitters. All with a raft of great textural challenges.
Enjoy!!!
Gx