A Vegetable Apocalypse!
My most enormous painting to date!
This painting was made for an exhibition, held in Ely Cathedral in the spring of 2022 in celebration of 700 years since the central tower collaped, in 1322. This rather dull, squat structure was then replaced by the extraordinary Octagon, which can best be marvelled at from the riverbank. I love it, as do we all.
Anyway, one possible aspect of this theme was destruction, so I imagined a future event, where Ely is once again an island, surrounded by marshes. In this time, the climate has become tropical, and the abandoed cathedral is taken over by what the archeologist Francis Pryor, in his introductory speech at the Exhibition’s private view, called A “Vegetable Apocalypse“. Clearly this is a better title for the piece than I could think of! I was thinking of one of the temples of Ankor Wat, in Cambodia.
Cary Outis, encouraged us all to think of making “big works to fill a big space”. He was right, the Cathedral is huge and cavernous. I drew an outline of the West Tower on the floor of Prickwillow Art Space in chalk, as big as I could, on the altar floor. It was 4 metres tall and two wide. The biggest 4×4″ pieces we could find at the local woodyard were 3.6 metres, hence the eventual height. Cary made the frame and I made my first ever go at stretching some very fine brown canvas over it.
I then spent a couple of months, often up a very tall ladder in Prickwillow Arts Centre (formerly a Church), painting the tower and breaking bits off it in paint. I flew a heart flag from the top because if God isn’t love, then why bother with them?
This painting is 3.6 metres tall and 2 metres wide!
For me, this entire Exhibition project was part of my personal recovery from the Pandemic that had separated us from family, friends and neighbours for the best part of two years. I painted it towards the end of 2021, when we all still felt that shadow.
Not many people know this but I did plan to bring some of the gargoyles back to life, maybe even invite some from other churches, such as Peterborough Cathedral. Another time perhaps, in a close-up picture.
It was displayed just inside the Cathedral doors, leaning against one of the mightly pillars.
After the Exhibition, it was removed from the frame, rolled up and stored under my bed. Not many people have the space for such a huge picture,, after all.
