Oil on canvas
40cm x 40cm
In slip frame, ready to hang.
When painting in response to Spike Island, I thought often (almost obsessively) about how it must have felt to be captive – as opposed to captivated on / by the island. Inhabitants – be they monks or prisoners – must have looked at the sea and the far shore – with longing. I imagine imprisonment is difficult at any time but to have civilian life literally in your sites must have been extra challenging. I imagine their proximity to the shoreline, gave island inhabitants endless estuaries in to which their minds could wander – satisfying and nourishing their longing for liberty and home.
