Mandalay Pears
49x90x4cm acrylic on cradled ply panel framed.
 
This painting is part of a new series  of still life created for my solo show " A Sense of Self"
Objects preserve a wealth of significant emotion and connection, serving as physical embodiments of identity. The narratives of these objects project a sense of self while sharing stories of lives lived in other places and times. They hold a physical representation of experience, speaking of familial ties and the story of who we were, who we are, and where we have been.
We backpacked in Asia for almost 9 months in the mid-nineties, it was a round-the-world trip I wanted to complete before I turned 30. We spent my 30th camping in Dubbo of all places. We spent 2 weeks touring Myanmar including Mandalay. Mandalay had seemed like the most exotic place on earth from the NE of England, the lyrics of Nelly the Elephant were a huge draw card. Mandalay turned out to be strange, amazing, very dark and beautiful. I bought sarong/longyi cloth from the covered market in the city, which I have used as tablecloths ever since. This fabric is silk and would have been used as a man's formal longyi, women's sarongs were more decorative and floral. At the time we were there the military government had banned men from wearing trousers so all the population wore traditional sarongs. That might still be the case,