Luminous beings are we, not this ... flesh.
Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

Patrick is an artist who truly loves what he does. He immerses himself in the world around him and ways to capture its joy, its pleasures and those moments that compose the passages of time. He also maintains a sense of the paint itself. The choice of media and colour are always so key in representing the artists world, but these choices and techniques also convey emotion and feeling, and that is what Patrick does with heart and depth. The colour blue is predominant in Patricks work, perhaps because he resides in the Blue Mountains and that dusky landscape inspires him. In art historical terms, the cobalt, ultramarine and light purple were also colours used by the Renaissance painters and they add a sense of light and calm to Patricks work.

Patrick is not only a painter and draftsman, but a poet with several publications under his belt - his artworks express that sense of narrative that pervades the written word. His clever titles add to the tales he tells visually, for example: Ferguson Road (Well, you kept paying me elaborate complements the whole evening). The initial part of each title relates to a place or the artists feelings around a subject; the bracketed component is a quote from The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde, an author who thrilled at deconstructing the social mores around him.
These layers of meaning surround the figures that Patrick lovingly depicts in each canvas. We are invited to explore their gazes, inward and reflective, as they ruminate upon the lifes experiences Patrick represents, and we are left to ponder their relationship to the fragments of the landscapes and symbolism that fill each canvas. There is an interesting story within a story here that we can play with in our own imaginings. You will see paintings that capture moments of fun, of swimmers gathered together while a woman shimmers before us with memories floating around the compositional space. That is the nature of memory; it is ephemeral, it is present, but it is no longer bold and strong as life is in real time. Patrick conveys this through his short, pastel-toned brush strokes, where the oil paint cleverly mimics the softness of pastel.

Another work plays with the wonder of childhood heroes and villains that still resonate with us as adults – the storm troopers from Star Wars appear and reappear around the central figure, in parts small but solidly represented, but also depicted large and looming in outline. We all have memories from films or books or TV series that made a lasting impression on us. This is also an indication of how much popular culture has influenced the modern world and the way we see it, interact with it and indeed, represent it.


I came to a high place of darkness and light,
The borderline ran through the centre of town
I hitched up my pony to a post on the right ...
We came to the pyramids all embedded in ice,
He said there s a body I m trying to find
If I bring it out it will bring a good price.
It was then that I knew what he had on his mind ..
She said you look different. I said that’s only natural.
She said; do you want to stay? I said: if you want me to?

Isis Desire, Bob Dylan

Written by: Anna Groden, ANG Art Consulting. Email: angartconsulting@gmail.com...