New ShowThe Open Eye Gallery
34 Abercromby Place
Edinburgh EH3 6QE
Friday 24th September - Tuesday 12th October 2010
Angus McEwan, RSW ARWS
Resonance 2010
As I brush past old walls, doors & alleyways, I imagine sounds of past lives, like whispers in the wind, The walls resonate in my imagination; music, crying, weeping, celebrations, singing, bullets zipping, shouting, laughter, etc, all woven into the fabric of the buildings, untouched by a restorer’s hand.
Human lives lived and lost, a narrative unfolds as I wander with my senses heightened. History is absorbed and reflected by the walls around me. Resonating, past lives speak to me through the textural marks on the surfaces, as I carefully observe and transcribe. It is my duty to pass on their stories. Conjecture, interpretation or even embellishment, sometimes when a painting is bereft of human presence the piece speaks volumes about human lives and their struggles. The occasional human figure in a painting allows us to empathise on an emotional level with their predicament or surroundings, our imagination is thus engaged. Through my paintings I try to imbue some of the characteristics of each object/surface, while reflecting upon the scene in front of me. If I am partially successful I will have left the viewer with the impression of more than just textured surfaces, perhaps on the odd occasion familiar sounds and smells may be triggered. Maybe a memory of something or somewhere personal may be triggered by the image. Your participation and imagination, as viewer, is a vitally important component for the story to take flight.
