Cathedral Dress
Oil on canvas
135x 110 cm
Finished May 2020. Dress is wearable sculpture by Liam Brandon Murray.
The idea for this painting was hatched with Liam Brandon Murray at last year’s Modern Panic exhibition. This was his latest dress. I started the painting on 3 March. All detail had been decided in the weeks before, yet the picture seems to be all about the current situation: the foreboding symbols of the candle blown out, the house of cards collapsing, the hour glass running out, and the clock with no hands. The Rhododendron and Tuberose flowers also symbolize danger and impending doom. Even the dirty window somehow feels like a reference to lockdown, as does the dress itself. If we all wore dresses like this, ‘social distancing’ would not be a problem.