Today I am sharing the painting “Memory” which was a concept I made before I even knew I was going to have a solo show! This was way back end of August when farmers were starting to create hay bales and they littered the countryside around my home. I think they are beautiful and I knew I wanted to paint them once more.
This painting reminds me of nostalgia. It is common as the years pile on for people start romanticizing about the past and how life used to be. I like leaving the specifics of this open to the viewer, but we definitely live in a time of nostalgia “pre-pandemic”. However, I feel like I have heard this turn of phrase so many times before. Things were better before social media, things were better before smart phones, things were better before plastic straws or GMOs… but were they?
Sometimes I wonder if it is really things around us that make things better or worse or if it is ultimately always people? Think about all the amazing advances we have made in science, medicine and technology? We could be living as harmoniously as we please right now – what’s lacking is balance within ourselves and with one another.
But the crows have also popped up again in this painting. This symbolizing once again our own inner dialogue and thought patterns, that form especially from memories. I don’t want to over analyze this painting however. I feel like it in many ways speaks for itself, it creates a feeling for the viewer which I feel like I want to leave partially untainted.
So whatever memory this painting brings about for you, I will let you have it. At the end of the day, it is what we are left with of most things.
This painting will be on view at the Jula Hotell in Skara from May 31st to June 6th. This piece has already sold <3