I let ambiguity into my work by not allowing it to fall into categories such as painting or sculpture, or into any historical style such as Hard Art or Expressionism or Figuration. In this way I hope to re-open questions about what we consider harmony and quality of life to be.
The importance of an artwork is to make you who are reading this think in broader terms beyond what you take for granted. Ambiguity is a feature of all artwork employed by artists to initiate this thinking progress. It’s easy to think of simple examples of ambiguity. Such as the Mona Lisa’s smile or more complex issues such as Goya’s ‘Duel with Clubs’.
What I observe in the zeitgeist of today has an influence in what I create.
There appears to me to be an increasing insularity in people about what goes on in the world.
This insularity is a contradiction, if we think of ourselves as people who live together but are miles apart both in culture and belief.
This kind of separation is not helpful for a stable lifestyle. There needs to be a better understanding, compatibility, between people, probably through education to realise and respect their differences. Art is my voice.
I have set about creating both an aesthetic and meaningful figurative two and three-dimensional art, which integrates paintings, use of natural light, architecture and sculpture.
My aim is to break from the constraints of the traditional way of viewing these mediums, to excite viewers, with what excites me in what I can and do create.
Richard Packer