Rowan Williams suggests that there is a presence in a work of art by that generates difference and self-questioning. Faith is the fertile ground from which my questions spring, and it is art that enables me to see past what I have just seen; to discern the difference between how I have imagined things to be and how they might possibly be with God. This understanding of presence in making and seeing art undergirds my current PhD inquiry and also this new body of work.
Discernment takes time and painting a body of work, requires me to be involved in a process of rhythmically taking up and letting go of ideas, materials, thoughts and images. There are also moments when there is an opportunity to take a deep breath, and it is from this place that the exhibition ‘Departure’ has emerged.