'INNATE FORMS' by Grand Sublime Collective!

I'm delighted to be working with Grand Sublime Collective in presenting 'INNATE FORMS' a new series of paintings and Dax's first exhibition since leaving art school over 25 years ago. The intervening years have seen Dax apply him self to many skilled trades including carpentry and building work with TIG welding being a new skill in his arsenal. His daily work grind meant he had little time to focus on making art, instead focusing on jobs that help pay the bills. A balance that many struggle to keep up but art has never been ruled out completely and indeed where possible Dax would work on new ideas.

In 2017 after a near death brush with sepsis Dax found himself waking from a nightmarish 2 week coma. Part of a metal knee replacement had become infected and was removed, leaving Dax with only one working knee and in a physically weakened state. When he was finally well enough to return to Aberdeen, he did so as half the man he was, losing almost a third of his body mass over the course of his time in hospital. Unable to work, at points even stand and awaiting for a second knee replacement, Dax's mind kept coming back to the coma and the nightmare scenarios he endured. His stories of ice caves and giant monsters, hallucinations and visits from old friends he'd not seen in 20 years left Dax struggling to work out what was real and what was imagined. 

After almost a year of recovery Dax started to look a bit more like himself but the hangover of the sepsis infection was still taking its toll. Over many nights we chatted about his experiences and his on going problems. As often happens our conversations turned to art and creativity with Dax speaking about his early rave flyer designs and portraiture work. Suddenly his 3D building plans were swapped for beautifully rendered pencil drawings and work from his days as a graphic designer as we sifted through his hefty portfolio of work. I could see the cogs turning and before long an easel was set up in his garage and the first few paintings began to take shape.

Drawing on a wide range of influences, Dax began pulling out shapes and colours that reminded him of his time in the coma but also explored ideas from his earlier creative efforts. The result is a series of paintings that look to address Dax's ordeal but also see him bypassing the inherent hierarchy of the established art world, a system that's often felt elitist and out of reach. It was a no brainer to invite Dax to show some work for my own MoC x 10 show (check it out here) back in February and the next logical step was to help him realise his goal of having his first solo exhibition. So in the space of 2 years we've gone from making funeral arrangements to organising posters and business cards for his first show!

We're delighted to be in the final few days of prep for the show and welcome everyone to 'Innate Forms' by Grand Sublime Collective this Friday, 23rd August at 7pm at Kekun Studio. The exhibition will be open over the weekend and every Friday, Saturday and Sunday 11am - 4pm til the 8th September so be sure to check it out and prepare to take a trip into the psychic void!