The title of this exhibition comes from the words spoken by a refugee fleeing the Middle East, taken from a television series called “Exodus - Our journey to Europe”, broadcast in August 2016 on BBC2.  A number of individuals of different ages were given mobiles to document their journeys from different locations, including Syria.

The work is about borders, boundaries and restrictions. Colin calls the works “landscapes”, because it is here that events are enacted out, and he uses the physical shape and structure of a paper map because it already has an established and recognisable visual language of landscape. Christopher Andreae, writing about the abstract landscapes of Scottish painter and printmaker, Philip Reeves, said that his works were not depictions, topographic descriptions of a specific place, or topographic records, but equivalents. Reeves uses the physical construction of picture making, such as planes,edges,overlaps,underlaps and margins to be those equivalents to the ‘real world’. These sentiments resonate with Colin's own need to bring the ideas being expressed into my picture making process. When Eduardo Paolozzi talked about his fascination with collage he referred to the physical state of flux that each piece has with each other until the pieces are finally positioned. This agitation and tension seemed to me in tandem with the continuing human displacement of individuals.

The works are a combination of printed maps, screen shots from the 'Exodus' series, internet images, holiday brochures and printed ephemera. They are a response to our dilemma about Brexit [hard and soft], independence and interdependence, and Trump’s wall. We seem to be becoming insular in our thinking as a fearful means of self-preservation. How do we square our fears of invasion with humanitarian aid?

Exhibition Open: Monday - Friday, 9am - 4:30pm

Private View: Friday 8th September 2017, 5pm - 8pm