This latest body of work Three Policemen is inspired by the book “The Third Policeman”, by Flann O’Brien. He wrote the book at the same time Picasso and the Cubists were painting three dimensions onto a flat page in a semi abstract way. The book is written in a very visual way; when reading it image after image floods my mind.
The book is unusual with the all – revealing twist at the end. The middle part features an other-worldly pair of policemen, who have the theory that a bicycle, a rider and the road will become each other, in different percentages, according to how often the bicycle is ridden. I find the idea of the bicycles interchanging personality with their rider and the road, a wonderful one. Anyone who has done an activity to any great extent will understand this idea. How realities meld into one another and make way for strange imaginings. The idea that a road has seen many generations of travellers and therefore has many secrets is also a theme in the paintings.
One of the policeman has fathomed a way of carving immaculate miniatures of ornate boxes. The miniatures go down in size and fit inside each other like Russian Dolls. They are so beautiful that they seem to dance of their own accord on the table. The tenth box is smaller than a pin head; there are 22 smaller than that. This strangeness furthers my interest in endless possibilities. I have made a model of the police station that is a little like a treasure box.
The third Policeman is never seen, but they know of his existence by his nightly visit to sign in the book, and to tell you of him would spoil a good read!