The concept of desire is a recurring theme in my work.  My recent video triptych addressed the perpetual nature of desire and its manifestation, not simply as a desire for something or someone, but as a fundamental characteristic of the human condition.

This latest series of paintings explores the interpretation of desire as an ultimately futile attempt to recapture the sense of wholeness which we all experience, but which is lost through common forms of language such as speech, writing and image making.

Each painting is inspired by specific Nō dramas which express Buddhist ideas of ‘mōshū’; the clinging to objects of desire, and the need to renounce this attachment,  concepts highly familiar to a Western audience. The intention is not to illustrate these Nō narratives, but to adapt them into a single image, representing moments in the pursuit of desire.

The hyper-realism of the painting style combined with the drama of these deliberately ‘staged’ compositions provides a contrast which reflects the dramatic playing out of our desires and the reality of our underlying state of dissatisfaction.

The idea of desire as a charade is further reinforced by the use of masks as a motif throughout the paintings; like desire these masks function to construct a sense of ourselves that is ultimately out of our grasp. The resulting state of incompleteness is highlighted by the stark juxtaposition of the highly-detailed still image against the untouched grey background.

 

Barry Charlton, 2008