ARTIST'S STATEMENT
This painting was initially a more obvious depiction of my son and a wolf, which was an animal he identified very closely with when he was young. At the time I wanted to capture this important aspect of his identity in this work. As my son grew and his relationship with the wolf gradually became less important to his sense of self, I continued to work on the painting, adapting it over a number of years in a parallel process to his development.
This work considers the powerful, vital passions and fantasies of childhood and how these adapt and fade as we age and grow. The oversized blossoms and vivid colours reflect the experience of looking through a child's eyes, while the process of building up layers which distort the original image represent fading memories of a time when we experience unquestioning creative exploration.
Yellowed Blossoms (oil on canvas, 76 x 61 cm) by Ceinwen Birrell (2019).
