Two of the paintings in the exhibition share its name: 'Shadows and Projections I' and 'Shadows and Projections II'. Both are constructed as trompe l’oeil 'quodlibet' conceits although, unlike The Picture of ‘We Three’, these are more ‘about’ the idea of trompe l’oeil as a conceit: the elements in each composition are cropped by the edges of the pictures, suggesting that this collection of material continues beyond the frame, not entire and contained by the bounds of the picture, not all confined to and in the same space of the viewer.
The central motifs in both are a form of self-quotation, reference images from an earlier set of paintings about shadows, and in particular orphan shadows–those in which the object casting the shadow is not seen within the frame: the profile of a CCTV camera, bare tree branches projected onto the back of a sign. These are surrounded by visual research into cast shadows in the history of art: a detail of Plato’s Cave, the Corinthian Maid, a church interior by de Witte with the shapes of windows cast across the aisle, a Lewis Hine picture with his silhouette and the shadow of the camera on the sidewalk, Duchamp’s Tu m’, a painting with the shadows of his readymades (with a picture of shadows in his studio), a Cartier-Bresson photograph with the shadow of an ornate minaret, an installation piece I made using the projection of 8mm film during the pandemic, and a photograph of the sign outside the National Gallery for the exhibition ‘Gombrich on Shadows’ from 1995–which I saw–the catalogue of which provided some of these references.
The shadows of the elements within these paintings themselves–which brings life to the layerings–invite the urge of a confirmatory touch, to dispel the workings of the eye’s defeat, the necessary expectations that trompe l’oeil plays on, is epitomised by the masking tape–and its subtle shadow underneath.
Shadows and Projections I & Shadows and Projections II
Oil on paper mounted on panel, 24x30.5cm, 2026
'Shadows and Projections' concludes today with an in–conversation event with Sarah Wishart at 3pm
The Art Space, Cass Art
63 – 67 Queen Street
Glasgow G1 3EN
Of all the works in ‘Shadows and Projections’, the series of drawings titled ‘Bruges-la-Morte ‘ are those in which process determines outcomes. Showing a few photographic pieces alongside paintings in the exhibition was new for me; rather than using painting as a default means of expression, in recent years I have been more interested in finding appropriate means for the ideas in the work to determine its form.
For each drawing in this series, I traced a number of images successively, building a network of lines without reference to those already on the paper. Bruges-la-Morte (1892), which gives the series its name, is a symbolist work by Georges Rodenbach, notable for being the first novel to be illustrated by photographs. The original pictures from the book formed the basis of the imagery that I traced to make the drawings; the theme of repetition and return, with echoes, foreshadowings, doublings and doppelgangers, structures–or haunts–the narrative. These were overlaid with stills from two of the film adaptations of the novel (a 1915 Russian adaptation by Yevgeni Bauer and Ronald Chase’s 1978 film); a single image from Vertigo (the plot indirectly inspired Hitchcock’s film, after being filtered through a 1954 novel, D'entre les morts, by Boileau-Narcejac); the work of Fernand Khnopff (who provided a drawing for the novel’s cover); alongside my own photographs, drawings and frames from an 8mm film shot in Bruges.
The paper of the drawing becomes a screen for projection, with successive tracings obscuring the clarity of individual images; this process of accretion provides an analogy to how a film works through the accumulation of scenes, impressions merging in the viewer’s experience and memory, above and beyond the simple retention of images on the retina, the supposed ‘persistence of vision’ necessary for the enjoyment of the moving image.
Bruges-la-Morte I, III, IV, VIII
Carbon transfer on paper, 2026
'Shadows and Projections' continues to 18/04/26
The Art Space, Cass Art
63 – 67 Queen Street
Glasgow G1 3EN
Monday-Saturday 9am-6pm
In conversation event with Sarah Wishart Saturday 18th April 3pm
Some installation shots from my exhibition 'Shadows and Projections',
The Art Space, Cass Art
63 – 67 Queen Street
Glasgow G1 3EN
Monday-Saturday 9am-6pm
Concludes with an in-conversation event with Sarah Wishart @sarahwishart_art Saturday 18th April 3pm-4pm - no need to book.
'Gants Hill' comprises two photographic prints: one print is a conventional black and white pictorial image; the other print is six paragraphs of text. The two prints are the same size and the border around image and text the same dimensions. Ideally, the image and text should have equal weight when shown together. However, the image is more readily comprehended all at once, while the text takes time to absorb if read. They are also displayed image-text left to right, encouraging a reading of the image first, then the text.
I had thought that this piece could have existed as a film, with the content of the text as a voiceover, while a static camera could have filmed the scene for the the duration that the text took to read. As two photographs, the viewer–if they bother to read the whole text–creates an internalised narration: the text does talk of time and movement, absent from the photograph of course, but something the viewer may be able to produce in their imaginative engagement with the work. The text encourages this: it describes what happens beyond the edges of the frame of the image, as well as beyond the time or instant of the photograph.
The limitations of representation have been something that has interested me, and the use of text as a means to expand an image is a strategy that I have employed on occasion, although this is always implicit when designating something as ‘an artwork’: there is always a title, a small piece of text separate to and yet part of the artwork (infrequently the title may be inscribed in the object itself: the name ‘Gants Hill’ does appear in the image, alongside other words, but not in the text of this work); titles are texts which function as the beginning of an interpretative process in the encounter with an artwork. Other works in ‘Shadows and Projections’ do this more explicitly; the text of Gants Hill allows it to have a specific but limited title while leaving that interpretative or imaginative space open.
Gants Hill, silver gelatin prints, 24x30.5cm, 2019/2021
'Shadows and Projections' continues to 18/04/26
The Art Space, Cass Art
63 – 67 Queen Street
Glasgow G1 3EN
Monday-Saturday 9am-6pm
Sundays 11am-6pm
Save the date: 'Shadows and Projections', an exhibition of paintings, photographs and drawings.
03/04/26-18/04/26
The Art Space, Cass Art
63 – 67 Queen Street
Glasgow G1 3EN
Open Monday-Saturday 9am-6pm
Sundays 11am-6pm
Private view Friday 3rd April 6-8pm
