richard winkworth

Contents

Director's ForewordPlaying With FireDilwaraKalighatSonapura RoadWater Jar I Water Jar IIWater Jar IIIWater Jar IVGoddess IGoddess IIBlack Jar IIWhite JarBlack JarBiographyAcknowledgements

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DireCtor’s ForeworD

The Cat Street Gallery is proud to present Richard Winkworth’s solo show, ‘Playing

with Fire’, the title of which is itself a play upon the ancient medium of encaustic

painting employed in his works. Predating oil and using a fastidiously controlled mix

of heated beeswax, damar resin and pigment, the word ‘encaustic’ is derived from the

Greek, ‘Enkaustikos’, translating literally to “burn in with fire”.

Winkworth’s intelligent and highly contemplative works in encaustics, and also oils, are

a reflection of his extensive travels throughout Asia. His seemingly simple still life studies

of one of man’s most early objects, the pot, are in fact drenched in subtle nuances of

complex and vibrant layers of colour. One cannot help but be drawn to examine the

extensive surface detail that manifests upon further study.

We had the esteemed privilege of watching Winkworth’s latest body of works

unfold during their creation, with each visit to the studio providing a surprise in their

development. It is our great pleasure to share his alluring conclusive pieces that whisper

of culture and tradition, underscored by a wily energy.

Mandy d’Abo

September 2011

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Playing With Fire

Kate BryanCritic and Curator

Working in a water facing studio in Ap Lei Chau, an island with one of the highest population

densities anywhere in the world, is the artist Richard Winkworth. He is surrounded by literally

thousands of people who have chosen that particular land mass upon which to settle. As settled

human beings they have running water, electricity, and, of course, most probably wi-fi and digital

TV. These are the modern markers of a society; a group of people inhabiting the same region,

consuming the same products and each contributing to the mechanisms of everyday life. The

number of possessions amassed and the size and complexity of the infrastructure built to sustain

and delight these Ap Lei Chau residents is quite extraordinary given the tiny amount of land the

island occupies – a mere 1.3 square kilometres for nearly 90,000 people. The plethora of activities

and objects in this one tiny island is in many ways a microcosm for the 21st Century at large, in all

its industrialised, globalised and digitised glory. But this wasn’t always the case.

Some 150,000 years ago our ancestors were hunter gathers and moved according to the migration

patterns of their prey and the changing seasons. They were nomadic out of necessity and travelled

extremely light, disposing of their primitive equipment before moving along. Around 10,000 years

ago we know that the earliest humans stopped moving. They began to settle. If they were to stay

in one area for any length of time then they needed to ensure survival throughout the changing

conditions in that one place. And so, they began to store food and other essential items. Some of

the earliest man-made objects were therefore pots. This simple object began an entire tradition

that continues to this day. Pots were used to hold seeds, meat, grasses, grain, and later also became

vestibules for precious items and ashes. They are found in the earliest traces of every civilization on

earth, perhaps most famously in the Jomon period in Japan where archaeologists have unearthed

vessels which date to 7000 B.C.

The pot (or jar) is therefore a major signifier of our beginnings and this concept is something that

Richard Winkworth contemplates in his considered and intelligent paintings. The stylised jars that

permeate nearly all of his work can mean many things to many people. They act on a literal and

metaphorical sense: they might be seen as empty, or full; as religious or totemic; as Western or Asian;

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as modern or ancient. In some senses, the jar is the microscopic genesis of every item amassed by

the residents of Ap Lei Chau, the majority of whom will stay in the South China region their entire

lives. They are able to stay because they have resources at their disposal to do so, thus the notion of

a nomadic lifestyle has long since been relegated as inefficient and even improper. The world over,

people occupy homes alongside others, and in those homes they keep their innumerable things.

In some respects then, the very home itself is a jar, the ultimate vestibule.

Winkworth presents us with a motif which is thousands of years old, one that belongs to the earliest

traditions of object making. Underscoring the potency of this primitive symbol is the artist’s use of

encaustic painting, one of the oldest artistic techniques known to us. Despite its significant artistic

legacy, which predates oil painting by thousands of years, encaustic painting remains a remote

medium and has been very seldom used in contemporary cultures. The word ‘encaustic’ is derived

from the Greek, ‘Enkaustikos’, literally meaning to “burn in with fire”. The process involves painting

a mixture of beeswax, damar resin and pure pigment onto a wooden support, which is heated with

fire causing the wax to melt and become embedded onto the wood. This process is undertaken

numerous times, creating not layers, but a strong block with a complex fusion of embedded colour.

The resulting panel may for instance appear purple, but will have inevitably been composed of a

multitude of pigments taken to boiling point time and time again. Encaustics on wood are extremely

durable and last for thousands of years.

Winkworth combines sensitivity for the medium of encaustics with a passion for still life painting,

and throughout, the exhibition conjures many manifestations of the jar. The artist cultivates this

Asian motif with Western design elements, juxtaposing two traditions side by side. At once it

seems there is a contemporary minimalism of form, but closer inspection of the panels reveals that

they have clearly received extensive attention, as the remnants of many colours from past firings

are visible beneath the surface. As such, the artist remains in a privileged position, for only he can

know the many layered history of each encaustic panel. The artist clearly delights in surface quality

and always combines this with a strong, stylistic form.

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The strong influence of Asian art and culture is also evident in the manner in which Winkworth

builds his compositions. The artist often employs several small encaustic panels to create a larger

compendium of images. The repetition of form evokes the Buddhist and Hindu phenomenon of

hundreds of repeated icons in one space. His multi-panel encaustic paintings repeat the same motif

but there is a distinct lack of uniformity, each has its own minor differences in colour, texture and

form. There is something almost ritualistic about the way the artist has repeated the same image,

reinforcing and underscoring the image and coaxing the viewer into a position of contemplation.

Winkworth recognises the potent energy that art can hold. “When I walk into a temple and look

at altars, wall paintings and deities, this imagery has a presence that goes beyond art because it is

frequently anonymous, has no signature, is not branded and not own-able. Its origin is based on

absolute belief and rooted in spirituality.”

The artist opens the door to a debate about the primitive and spiritual quality of art, not simply in

his multiple reworkings of a universal symbol or in his use of the ancient encaustic medium, but

also in his conceptual approach. The artist considers painting a primal urge. “For me, painting

is a conscious response to something that originates outside of myself but is expressed in the

subconscious. It is a feeling I have no name for and that I cannot express in language.” This idea is

demonstrated by infants who instinctively make marks long before they have any comprehension

of picture making. As Winkworth puts it, “The act of painting or ‘making’ is about a transference

of energy, the artist being the vehicle, the viewer being the receiver.” It is easy here to think again

of the jar metaphor - as viewers of artworks, we all take something away and store it.

Winkworth may be a British citizen but his heart has always been in Asia. He was born in India and

spent his formative years in South East Asia. From his base in Hong Kong, the artist travels regularly

and in preparation for this body of work he spent time in Kolkata and Varanasi. In these places the

artist was able to explore non-Western notions of the afterlife and levels of human consciousness.

In Kolkata Winkworth was transfixed by the cult of Kali who has a great presence in the region

as it is believed that part of her body lies there. Kali is a fierce looking goddess with a dark blue or

black body, known as the ‘Destroyer of Ignorance’ (the kind discussed in Hinduism and Buddhism

that leads to personal suffering) and worshipped like a mother by her devotees.

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When he was in Varanasi, known as the religious capital of India, Winkworth felt her presence

just as strongly, as in his words, “she inhabits cremation grounds and gathers up the souls of

her children as ‘this life’ is reduced to a pile of ash. In observing and experiencing the endless

cremations in Varanasi, I recognised the emotions that lead to the quest for an extension of

our existence.” For the artist the experience of witnessing this devotion and fervour gave him a

heightened consciousness of his own existence. Leaving the overwhelming ritualistic behaviour he

witnessed in the burial grounds, Winkworth describes how he was “forced back into a conscious

awareness of my existence, the experience of being alive and returning to consciousness was an

amazing rush. One of those moments that thrillingly change your concept of reality and demand

some kind of tangible repository. I don’t think that what happened to me is in unique; I believe it is

an experience that occurs to all of us and I am just exploring my concept of eternity.”

These experiences and the eternal question of how human beings try to understand their conscious

world, especially in light of the knowledge that all life is finite, was something which informed this

body of work. “I have been thinking about these experiences as I painted a group of large jars – an

image I have painted many, many times, partly due to the eternal quality of this object, unchanged

in nature since man first dug clay and also because of its iconic symbolism.”

The artist endeavours to create images which sit outside of time and space and transport the

viewer to a serene pictorial realm which is instinctual and refers to the universal human condition.

Winkworth circumnavigates the traditions of Western art history and takes the remote past as his

starting point. In choosing to work with encaustics and a repeated universal symbol, he draws

attention to a less complicated era, one not globalised or saturated with objects and images. His

forms are purposefully raw, open and stylistic. He concentrates heavily on the quality of the surface

and the expressive opportunities created by rhythmic layered painting and instinctively creates

encaustic panels. Ultimately Winkworth opens a door on to our own sense of self and allows us to

look back at the traditions from which we have emerged.

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Plate 1: DilwaraEncaustic wax on wood32 x 32 cm (each)2011

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Plate 2: KalighatEncaustic wax on wood47.5 x 38 cm (each)2011

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Plate 3: Sonapura RoadEncaustic wax on wood

32 x 32 cm (each)2011

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Plate 4: Water Jar IEncaustic wax on wood72 x 67 cm 2011

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Plate 5: Water Jar IIEncaustic wax on wood72 x 67 cm 2011

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Plate 6: Water Jar IIIEncaustic wax on wood

72 x 67 cm2011

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Plate 7: Water Jar IVEncaustic wax on wood72 x 67 cm 2011

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Plate 8: Goddess IOil on linen

147 x 213 cm2011

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Plate 9: Goddess IIOil on linen

147 x 213 cm2011

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Plate 10: Black Jar IIOil on linen152 x 182.5 cm 2011

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Plate 11: White JarOil on linen152 x 121.5 cm 2011

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Plate 12: Black JarOil on linen

152 x 121.5 cm2011

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Biography

seLeCteD eXhiBitions

Born Bombay, India

B.A. Hons. Fine Art/Painting, Brighton University, UK

M.A Print Making, Chelsea School of Art, UK

Playing With Fire, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong

Dragon Garden, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong

Back Home, Karin Weber Gallery, Hong Kong

Paintings From Ap Lei Chau, John Martin, London, UK

Art London, Chelsea Royal Hospital, London, UK

Making Space, Amelia Johnson Contemporary, Hong Kong

Still Life from the Edge of Heaven, John Martin, London, UK

Solo Show, Wilson Stephens Fine Art, London, UK

Art ‘01, London, UK

Solo Show, Lucy Simmonds Fine Paintings, Hong Kong

Art 2000, London, UK

Art London, London, UK

Panel Paintings, Wilson Stevens Fine Art, London, UK

Modern British Art Fair 2000, London, UK

Selected Paintings, Lusy Simmonds Fine Paintings, Hong Kong

Art ’99, London, UK

Olympia Fine Art and Antiques Fair, London

1963

1982 – 1985

1985 – 1986

2011

2010

2008

2007

2006

2005

2002

2001

2000

1999

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Art Expo’, Lucy Simmonds Fine Painting, Los Angeles, United States

Works on Panel, Wilson Stephens Fine Art, London, UK

Recent Paintings, Mercury Gallery, London, UK

SAGA Print Fair, Paris

20th Century British Art Fair, Royal College of Art, London Art ’98, London, UK

One Man Show, Lucy Simmonds Fine Paintings, Hong Kong

Group Show, Lucy Simmonds Fine Paintings, Hong Kong

20th Century British Art Fair, Royal College of Art, London L’Age d’Or, London, UK

20th Century Works on Paper, Jeremy Hunt Fine Art, London Glasgow Art Fair, UK

Taipei Art Fair, Lucy Simmonds Fine Paintings, Taipei, Taiwan

One Man Show, Lucy Simmonds Fine Paintings, Hong Kong

Group Show, Lucy Simmonds Fine Paintings, Hong Kong

20th Century British Art Fair, Royal College of Art, London Art, London, UK

Members Show, Newlyn Gallery, Cornwall, UK

Mixed Show, Connaught Brown Gallery, London, UK

Art for Mayfair, London, UK

1998

1997

1996

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richard winkworth

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