SOLO SHOW﻿

SOLO SHOW

22/6/2016

On the 11th June I started a 4 week solo show at Play Dead gallery in Southsea. The opening night was a huge success with long queues outside, a packed gallery and a flurry of red dots. There are a lot of people to thank for getting me to that point but I have to start with Samo and Lex who let me exhibit in their gallery. Also got to say thanks to M-One for helping with the paste ups and spreading the word leading up to the show, Hannah, Donna and Samo for letting me crash with them and everyone that backed me on the Kickstarter to help fund the show. Lastly but not leastly a massive thank you to everyone that came to watch me paint the wall and all that attended the opening night, it was great.

THANK YOU SOUTHSEA

I wanted to explore a darker side of my art for the show and ended up with a couple of recurring themes, the most notable of which was the blackworm. The blackworm character is my representation of mental illness. Many of the pieces I created at the show had very small blackworms in them so the artwork looked pretty normal on face value but as you look closer or scratch beneath the surface you will find the blackworms are there. If you visit the show you'll also see the story of how the blackworm originally manifests itself in words and thoughts, at times it takes over completely but can also be controlled with messy consequences. In more severe forms the blackworm can be deadly and this is captured in the piece titled "Please Don't Leave Me".

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME

There are many more messages and themes within the show that deal with anxiety and addiction which I would be happy to expand on but I'm really interested to hear what everyone else thinks so please let me know what it says to you.

I was blessed with the attention of some fantastic photographers and Instagramers over the days leading up to the show, below are a selection of photographs from the wall and show. If you have any photos you would like added please get in touch.