‘The most rad paintings in the universe’
These Tie Dye paintings with bold text evolve from my interest in trends, and subcultures that become out of date and eventually are recycled into ironic means. Examples of this is Tie Dye and words such as ‘naff, ‘lame’, ‘rad’, etcetera.
To form these paintings, the kitsch, the uncool, and the out-of-fashion formed the foundation, which was under-laying throughout the process. Deciding this was important because my theory of irony, being recycled highly involved cool and uncool trends. I chose tie-dye as an ambassador for the kitsch. The pattern can be beautiful at times and has substance trailing from the periods from which it evolved. Compared to the impact tie-dye had in the late 1960’s, tie-dye is a stale trend. This made it my prime choice of style to use, plus I have a previous relationship with the trend and dying process. A corresponding reason is that tie-dye and the words never become extinct and instead become reincarnated - Reincarnated into socially unacceptable themes that are ironic to use/wear.
These paintings investigate the idea of ‘Post Irony’, that suggests that irony is in-fact dead. I find this intriguing, as it is part of British culture. As a nation we are known to use sarcasm and irony quite often. To use irony, is like using a façade, which shields any reaction that may come our way. With irony being ‘dead’, there is no need to hide what you like if it is not ‘cool’. For example wearing a kitsch item of clothing (e.g. tie dye), as an ironic joke or saying the word ‘naff’ sarcastically is unacceptable in the eye of post irony. Instead doing these things because you like them is acceptable. The sarcastic/ironic themes in my paintings are really a protest for expressing yourself with no façade.
‘Post-ironic adjective: meaning “after irony”. Modern style of art or fashion that follows a phase that was ironic. Being sincere or earnest as opposed to flippant and sarcastic.’
The words in the paintings are inspired by words a father, uncle or granddad would say. As these relatives are out-of-touch with new trends and young persons colloquial terms, its a common fact they used words that are out of date that wouldn’t be acceptable to use in conversations between young people - Unless they are being used ironically. The goal was to take the words and put them in an ironic context then suggest that it should be acceptable to use.
Dying my canvas before anything else fed my need to create ‘alternative’ paintings. Exploring new techniques and new materials have been on going in my previous paintings, there is no change in these. I want to push the boundaries of painting and use unexploited materials e.g. Dye and bleach.
