Patrick Donohoe
States

Collage / Assemblage

Opening: Saturday 11 November 3-500pm

Exhibition: 7 to 26 November 2006

Although still working from the point of view of capturing a meditative process, the new works contain an underlying edge of brutality and fracturing. The new assemblages/collages contain elements of paper, paint and used vinyl, layered to create unusual surfaces and divisions. Donohoe claims that he's "aiming at an emotional state, a state that people can literally walk into and be engulfed by."

“There is still a connection here to my first solo show from 2004, Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear. It’s the idea of physically deconstructing the artwork. For this series I threw very little material away. And I mean very little. I’ve got boxes and boxes of old paper and vinyl, material that I’ve “abused” and over used. These elements that have been discarded, or pulled from one work, tend to find themselves reused in later works. And this gives the works a history. The surface of each work has a history that’s beyond the history of the individual work” says Donohoe.

“I don’t want the work to be obvious or expected. In fact at times I’m aiming for a certain non-beauty, I don’t want to say ugliness. But I don’t want the work to be an obvious abstract composition. It has to have an awkwardness about it, but not enough to turn the viewer off. I still want the work to be enticing, but not in an easy or conventional way.”

Ranging is actual sizes from very small to very large, the works can appear to be abstract snapshots of random States of thought, short flickers of ideas in the smaller works linking to long pensive mood-scapes in the much larger works.  Donohoe's pieces seemingly loom in the space - provoking and memorable.

“There is also an idea of covering in there. Laying down a lot of paint, paper, vinyl, charcoal, pastel, graphite, a process that could represent hours or days of work. And then, in a moment, comes the impulse to cover it up, partially or totally. It’s very much a quiet inner impulse. It seems to be about putting what I’ve done at a distance, or just beyond reach. An obscuring, or veiling of what could be complicated and chaotic."

Visit Patrick's website: www.peartruck.com

GroundFloor Gallery 2006

See more: Gallery Artists