The Art of Alistair IW Campbell » Serial Cycle Series

Apocalyptic Beast

admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:34:53 +0000

I think we all have our own personal ‘Armageddon’. In this piece I have tried to depict some of the forces released in me that are a direct result of my submerged unrest and anger, which have always been in an uneasy and potentially eruptive state.

I’m trying to break down the walls of my denial, a denial which has caused so much unhappiness and addictive behaviour in my life.

This seven headed beast was in ‘embryo’ form in the preceding picture, but here, in this fourth piece in my Serial Cycle series, it is fully developed.

Apocalyptic Beast (2009)

(78cm x 56cm; felt tips, pilot pens, gold & silver pens plus, oil pastels and Indian inks on watercolour paper. 2009)

Beyond Appearances

admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:23:48 +0000

The classic abuse situation where everything appears normal on the TV screen, while chaotic forces are raging inside and around.

The toy Corgi and Dinky cars are what I used to buy with money I was given for my silence and complicity. I developed a smokescreen to cover up where I got the money from since my Mum could barely make ends meet and there wasn’t any extra for occasional toys.

The cars became ‘totemic’ and I kept them all in their boxes in a larger box I made and decorated myself. This had car badges on it (stolen from cars) and some my brother brought home from the garage he worked in.

This is the third piece in my Serial Cycle series.

Beyond Appearances (2009)

(78cm x 56cm; felt tips, pilot pens, gold & silver pens plus, oil pastels and Indian inks on watercolour paper. 2009)

Coming Out

admin — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:36:20 +0000

This is the second in my Serial Cycle series. I feel this is fairly self-explanatory. The creature is ungainly, the uncomfortableness of coming to terms with a massive problem. I think the ugly duckling myth is working here too. It’s all about the pain of breaking free from the cage, but which can also be the rebirth like a phoenix from an egg.

Coming Out (2009)

(78cm x 56cm; felt tips, pilot pens, gold & silver pens plus, oil pastels and Indian inks on watercolour paper. 2009)

Malmoth The Wonderer

admin — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:31:10 +0000

The first picture in my Serial Cycle series.

The title of this piece come from the Gothic masterpiece ‘Melmoth The Wanderer’ by Charles Maturin. It is a novel about the darkness’s of the human soul.

The moth is a ‘Death’s Head’ moth. I was inspired by the profound symbolism in the film ‘Silence of The Lambs’ to depict this particular moth. The butterfly/moth symbolically can mean transformation, as well as the soul. I chose a moth rather than a butterfly as a moth is generally a creature of the night. Most domestic sexual abuse happens at night.

This is quite obviously a self portrait and I would hazard a guess that anyone who has suffered abuse as a child or indeed at any age will be able to ‘read’ and identify with this image easily.

The Dali/barber’s pole crutches supporting the cage are what they appear – crutches/support and also healing. Barber’s were also akin to paramedics or first aiders in the past, amateur healers due to the scarcity of doctors – red for blood, white for the bandages.

Malmoth the Wonderer (2009)

(78cm x 56cm; felt tips, pilot pens, gold & silver pens plus, oil pastels and Indian inks on watercolour paper. 2009)