Retrospect

P.Wharton

Retrospect. Early years

Retrospect

Iterations of past. From a series of NFTs drawing upon otherwise archived material from the 90s.

My only recollection of a teacher’s criticism was in primary school when it was noted that I was easily distracted. They could have said I was easily inspired and ran with that.

Retrospect/Width 219.67cm Height 159.39cm res72ppi

Vincent is also hidden within this digital artwork. See NFTs

_{Me. Philip}

Q&A

“Much of your work has been of a religious nature, yet you say you are not religious. So why follow that path?”

‘'You're not the first to ask that question lol so I'm well versed. I’d say I’m spiritual? Who isn’t? We all have our mojos and quirks to draw upon the spiritual side of our psyche. I think my work is empathic to the beliefs of others beyond that of my own. It’s insightful to be receptive. It’s enlightening. I think my own spirituality harks back to the Neolithic. I’m very primal that way lol. I like nature. And spiritual doesn’t necessarily mean religious. A walk along the beach or in the countryside will tell you as much.”

To let go

I must have been around five years old and although it was dark out, it must have been summer time as I wasn't too cold. Maybe 1:00am. My mother was spurring me and my older sister on to race ahead down the street. We were all being chased by a man with a knife. My mother's drunk of a partner. So easily we could have safely raced ahead but for the tether of concern for our mother between us and this desperate situation.

Hopefully this simple little children’s illustration with its tethered rigid tension (standing ground) goes some way to convey the memory of that night.

Back to the drunk with the knife. We did all get away safely as an approaching police van sped up to arrest him. My mother did say that on visiting him the next day at the police station, he was black and blue. So make of that what you will.

Framed

_{Medium/pencil on tracing paper/cream backing paper}

_{W/40cm/H34cm/D/4cm}

_{Also see NFTs}

To let go
Iterations of past. From a series of NFTs drawing upon otherwise archived material from the 90s.

To let go. Width 113.84cm x Height 92.04cm res144ppi

Vincent is also hidden within this digital artwork. See NFTs

Q&A

“At what age did you realise you were an artist?”

“...I think we all start out in life as an artist, but I can only recall being arty from around the age of six. And art has never been something I ever had a desire to be schooled in. Around my early teens/13 we moved onto a newly-built council estate, festooned with abandoned offcuts of wood and nails. I was always sawing and hammering at some new invention, or scavenging railway embankments for wheels and bike parts. This may have been my schooling by exposure. I make stuff!”

Boxroom17

Boxroom17 evokes as many fond memories of my youth by way of its construction as it does now the finished piece. It was my intention to use nothing but an assemblage of off-cuts of timber from past projects for this piece. Almost like building with odd Lego blocks as I did when a child.

In total, only seven small cuts were made to accommodate the clock movement.

It represents all the small spaces that had nurtured me throughout my youth and the very cramped spaces that later doubled as much a studio as a bedroom.

From the single pillow on the bed, to the maze like route around the bed to the wardrobe. To the little portable TV, table, and stool at the foot of the bed. To the rug at the left of that tv. To the books and bookends on the top of the clock towering over the bed. To the triangular sculpture on the ledge to the left of the wardrobe. To the canvas stretchers on top of the wardrobe. To the awkward view through the window/door to the right of the pillow. To the giant light switch on the wall at the right foot of the bed. These are all personally iconic symbols of those times to mark a few.

_Medium/Wood

_{W/37/H52/D18cm}

Battery Clock with bell chime and Pendulum

Very early bedroom and studio

Q&A

“What materials do you like working with the most?”

“Pewter and cement. I’m taken to working with cement. It’s a material I’d like to explore on a grand scale, but circumstances don’t permit it at the moment.”

_{Other very early bedroom and make do studio spaces}

Is this art? Does it mean anything?

Talk about early bird catches the worm. Got up at 5:30am. Washed the dishes after breakfast, and on Squeezing out this baby wipe to clean the taps, this little bird appears out of the crush. All I’ve done here is wipe the water from the wipe off my hand and put the wipe back as it emerged from my hand . Is this art? And if so, who claims credit for this piece?

Some would say, maybe it’s a sign. Or Maybe, a Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush? It’s all a matter of personal translation? For myself (on this occasion) it’s a good philosophical debate.

From a Human perspective, whatever the interpretation, this will always appear to be far greater than the sum of its parts. Why?

Q&A

“Do you ever run short of ideas?”

“...Subjects are presenting themselves 24/7. And I’m so easily inspired.
I’ll run out of life first.”

Me. 2004. My photography years

Q&A

“Would you say you are spiritually influenced?”

“..Definitely in as much as I can’t take all the credit. I’m sure it’s someone’s spirit. I take what comes to me, then wing it the rest of the way. I don't bite the hand that feeds me.“

The synth years/aged 20/Me and my sister Lorraine.

In my very early 20s, my synths and my Yamaha CX5M music computer were everything. Then my sister died. I moved out of the family home and the heart fell out of my music. I dabble a little in music now and then, but only on my iPad via StaffPad.

Q&A

“...Do you listen to music when you are working?”

“Almost always. Anything that will sustain the mood I need to be in.”

Omen

When you have had a very long run of bad luck, misfortune, or loss, you can't ever imagine life is ever going to be more than just a mere existence. But if you can get a long enough break from it, you can start to heal a little. Live a little. Maybe not as you were, but anew.

Omen is an owl form draped with a veil. A mere existence. And the weathered cracks in the Veil, a well needed break from that mere existence. A glimpse of anew through the veil.

_Medium/Solid

_{Air dried modelling clay}

_{Acrylic paint Waxed}

W20cm/H26cm/D20cm

Totem/a strange one

I sort of lost my mojo in 2013 after my mother died and Totem was in response to this. I don't altogether wish to understand it presence other than I felt it watched out for me. It just emerged from the vacuum.

In a sense, the figure in the centre of the frame is holding back the dark from enveloping the whole frame. It was after this that my artwork took flight with the piece entitled Night Owl.
https://www.boxroom17.net/artworks/after-life/

_{Designed to be either free standing or wall mounted.}

_{wood/black and white/H54cm X w26101 X D7cm}

Presence of their absence

_{Presence of their absence. MP3 music By P Wharton}

_{https://www.dropbox.com/s/vyglezapf3n529h/2021%20pota.mp4?dl=}

Q&A

“What do you mean when you refer to the "presence" of a piece?”

“...I often use the term, "presence’' because subjects often present themselves infectiously, seemingly out of the blue with such enthusiasm that I tremble with drive in fear that this presence will fade."

Very early stone work and clay

_{All stolen from storage}