Creative Synergy

Notes on the making of the "Credo" painting  part of a creative synergetic collaboration with music composer Liz Johnson. 

“I felt that the painting produced during the 3rd session performance suggested further development and so I kept reworking whilst listening to Liz’s viola compositions for the ‘Colwall Requiem for Aleppo’.

The music, written for viola, comprises three parts titled: ‘Meditation 1 Anger, Meditation 2 Falling Tears, Meditation 3 Song Of The Water Well Boy’.

The music is emotionally striking, it brings shivers; the inclusion of Middle Eastern tunes within the classical notes creates a contrast as if a human cry for peace.

The Requiem for Aleppo has triggered a personal connection that relates to migration and displacementwhich I can express through art.

Working on this painting was long and painful. My process evolved by mark making using different mediums and tools, painting fast and intuitively.  I searched for answers: creating and destroying. The work becomes a palimpsest of thoughts and feelings.

One way to describe my working process is like having a conversation with the work.  I question it, I reflect on it and I work until there is exhaustion and peace, and this is the moment when I know the work is completed.”