Annunciation

“Annunciation 1” and “Annunciation 2”, 2005.
Two Pentaptychs. Each of five panels 66 x 48” (168 x 122cm).
Acrylic on Canvas.

An Investigation In Painting An Act Of Communication

I notice an awareness of something in society:

A state of waiting.
A hunger for some thing that is not known.
A search for a sign that could open up new ways of living.
The sign may already be there but where and what it is are unclear.

How would I paint this?

Since my early years, when I knew I wanted to be a painter, I have admired and studied ancient, and some modern, paintings of the Annunciation. In addition to the biblical story, I became passionately interested in how the artists depicted the moment of connection between Mary and the angel Gabriel — communicating with each other about something of great significance at a particular moment in time.

To paint the movements of two figures — intrinsically connecting with each other with their gestures and signs created through the whole of the body — must have come from the artists’ own experience: how he felt into the meaning of such movements as ‘transmitting and receiving a message’ - ‘learning’ - ‘listening’ - ‘aiming for something’ - even ‘hunting’. It is this underlying language that I have investigated and used in my painting of the Annuciation.

There is a vast wealth of knowledge easily accessible in our global living and we habitually make use of technological communication systems. Nevertheless, an individual can feel disconnected — and desire to find new ways of living that need to unfold. Perhaps the “intelligence” needed to change comes directly from the “bodily” nature of experience and inter-action.

The placing of Mary on the central panel depicting the impact of the annunciation event on her, and the unfolding of the message on the two panels to the right, build on this knowledge of embodiment relevant to the modern situation.