MUTTERLAND PAINTINGS Gallery

The Mutterland paintings are a development of the Der Deutsche Kopf series of paintings and have their basis in the concept:

The semblance of a “figurehead” formed by the geographical borders of post WWII Germany.

The present day map of Germany took it's form at the end of the second world war, this is including the division of the country into East and West Germany. In 2020 this map was 75 years old, I wanted to make reference to this anniversary. I had asked my mother, at the time she was aged 75, to pose for me so that I could use her portrait as the basis for the works. Florenz is named after her (Florence).

Within Florenz I also wanted to make reference to the first public exhibition of the Der Deutsche Kopf paintings in 2015 at the Rathaus of Gerlingen in Germany.

The frame of Florenz is made of 7 pieces representing her children (3)and grandchildren (4).

BRENDA and BRENDA 2 make reference to BREXIT. I was totally opposed to leaving the EU and felt very angry. Many of those in favour of Brexit appeared to have their reasoning framed by anger and , to me, they were given many public opportunities to vent that anger. The people who wished to remain and were angry about the situation did not seem to have a voice.

The red hair is my anger, the eyes are fixed on London, the centre of UK politics.

The scarf contains all of the flags of the nations of the EU except for the UK. The torn ear lobe is the violent removal of a treasured jewel.

The frame of BRENDA consists of 27 pieces each proportionate in size to the population of each nation within the EU, excepting the UK.

BRENDA 2 reflects the binary nature of the referendum question, YES/NO. The difference in expression is subtle, more serious, the shade of the painting is darker.

The frame is made of 27 pieces, each proportionate to the land mass of each of the nations within the EU, excepting the UK.

Angela is a collage made from 2 images of Angela Merkel, the scarf was collaged from an image of the flag of Germany. The frame is made of 17 segments and represents her term in office as the German Chancellor. The work also references Hannah Hoch.

Elisabeth (Ersteklasse Briefmarke [First Class Stamp]) made late 2022/early2023, is the conceptual completion of a circle.

Originating from stamp collecting in my youth.

I'm aware of the German heritage of Queen Eizabeth II but it wasn't my motivation,the Queen died while I was in Germany in 2022 and so the painting becomes in memorium.

What is a measure of nationality, through national symbolism, by traditions and history or is it simply a case of where you were born or where you have decided to call home?

For several generations, the Queen represented Britishness, her portrait was part of everyday life in the UK, on stamps and on coins, her portrait is part of the nation's heritage and history.

It is so familiar a symbol of Britishness that it is not at first apparent that her portrait is painted within the borders of a map of Germany.

The painting is framed, a composite of 70 equal width segments of re-purposed and recycled frames. Representing the duration of her reign including a reduced 71st segment for her final year. The variety of segments also represent the diversity of the population over which she reigned.

Germany is a country struggling for it's own identity, relatively young in terms of a nation, geographically formed from a past of war and control of it's land by other nations.

The Queen is past but Germany is still present.

The work references Arnold Machin's 1966 Queen's portrait for a stamp.