I N T R O D U C T I O N
It’s difficult to know why some sensations stay with us either consciously or subconsciously, why the smell of a cigar outdoors can transport me back to Paris as a child, why some pieces of music identify the place and time I first heard them or why the face of a friend can be recognised instantly many years later. There is something in all our senses that creates and stores this lasting impression, an essence that can be recalled and evokes the original sensation once more. This is one of many things I strive to do in my landscape work - firstly to seek out an image that speaks to me of that time and place and then to capture that impression - the colour, the feeling, the mood, the quality of light, even the heat. The detail is less important than the overall impression of being there, and the intrusion of the modern world is excluded to seek this lasting impression. The sensation is the subject and the fleeting becomes lasting. I remember the first time I saw the dappled light of plane trees falling on the languid water of the Canal du Midi creating its own shimmering movement; I remember the heat of the morning and light filtered through trees and parasols in the beautiful Provence village of Tourtour; I remember a gondola gliding through a shaft of light in a back canal in Venice – these are all sensations which created a lasting impression, and they have all become subjects for my work. The attempt to process the subject and find a way that captures its essence is common to the various genres of my work, with the technique and brushwork adapting to suit but all determined by the subject. Still life and studio subjects are rendered in a broad way, with economical brushwork to describe the main elements with more of an eye to the overall impression of the piece than the finer detail. With my compositions too this can translate into finding a balance between favourite remembered artworks and objects, shapes, patterns, textures and colours which are composed to create memorable images that hopefully hold the viewer’s interest. With this exhibition I feel privileged to have the opportunity to share my interpretations and my impressions of the world around me, and I hope that the paintings here may strike a chord with you too.
Jack Morrocco DA, FRSA
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