 Pillbox at Rye / oil on board / 17x12cm |  Pillbox at Rye #2 / oil on board / 17x12cm |
|---|---|
 Repeat After Me Show / Nov 2019 / Electro Studios Project Space Gallery / St Leonards-on-Sea |  Repeat After Me Show / Nov 2019 / Electro Studios Project Space Gallery / St Leonards-on-Sea |
 Pillbox at Rye #3 / oil on board / 12x12cm |  Sound Mirror / 2017 / oil on board / 30x30cm |
|---|---|
 Sound Mirror #2 / 2017 / oil on board / 30x30cm |  Barrage Balloon #2 / 2017 / oil on canvas / 12x12cm |
 Barrage Balloon / 2017 / oil on canvas / 24x13cm |  Long Mirroe / 2017 / oil on board / 17x12cm |
|---|
From a series of works over a 10 year period entitled Memento. This series reflects my interest in the derelict and abandoned wartime structures left behind as monolithic reminders of war in our everyday landscape.
The paintings of disused bunkers or pillboxes as they are most commonly known in Britain, are based on the those found at Rye Harbour in East Sussex. The Sound Mirror paintings are inspired by those found at Denge, near Dungeness also in East Sussex. These were constructed in the 1930s as early aircraft listening devices, only to be abandoned when superseded by radar, and left to listen on alone in the desolate landscape.
The barrage balloon paintings are inspired by my childhood memories of growing up near Cardington, in Bedfordshire; where these once protectors of the wartime cities were used as weather balloons and were still a common sight.