David O'Connor
I am a landscape artist and this is the genre which connects all of the work. The work can be introduced with the following quote from Marcel Duchamp in 1913:
A geographic “landscapism” – “in the manner” of geographic maps – but
The landscapist from the height of an aeroplane – Then the field trip (400km.) Notes taken i.e. for example number of houses in each village, or then again number of Louis XV chairs in each house – The geographic landscape (with perspective, or without perspective, seen from above like maps) could record all kinds of things, have a caption, take on a statistical look.…..
Much of my work is not a single point of view image: it is constructed from different information including reference to the means of production in this case cartography, astronomy, surveying and perspective.
Measurement, time and the movement of the heavens are all evident when one moves through a landscape. Cast shadows, the arc of the sun and moon and the constancy of the Northern Star are all persistent elements within the landscape. These are scientific and mystical at the same time. In landscapes; particularly places like Wiltshire I feel a strong sense of history: walking the same soil and looking at the same sun and moon as the people who built Stonehenge.
The paintings are more direct and more intuitive. They are an attempt to combine topographical information with an awareness of pattern and abstraction within Wiltshire landscapes. Fragments of memories of place and layered points of view are combined in single images.