The thinking behind the work: “Life’s a Risk, Innit.”
Yes, this painting is about urban foxes. As humans encroach on wild habitats, some animals come into urban areas to survive, as food is often easier to find there. But, this painting is not just an urban fox sat in front of a graffiti wall, it’s also a political statement on various current events:
The shadow of the tree, at the top of the painting, is just that, a shadow. There’s no tree visible, it acts as an echo of all the wild spaces lost and that were once the fox’s natural habitat.
The big X ghosting in the background stands for the increasing influence social media plays in our society. X and Elon Musk. The question that this painting poses is “What’s real, and what’s fake?” There are so many lies masquerading as truths on social media, it is difficult to work out what’s really going on. This is also reflected in the street-cred title of the painting “Life’s a risk, innit.” Life is a risk for the chicken when the fox turns up, except it’s not a real chicken, just a piece of graffiti, but then, what’s that chicken feather doing on the ground? Spiritually, white feathers symbolise protection, or even a reminder that your guardian angel is looking out for you.
The fox looks real, but is also painted. In fact, it’s the second fox because I painted over the first fox that I wasn’t happy with and replaced it with this one. If you look closely, to the right of the fox, in small lettering are the words REAL LIES (realise). It’s a painting about waking up to what is really happening in the world.
The current political stance on ‘stop the boats’ mistakenly describes asylum seekers as “illegal migrants” when in fact, asylum seekers are not illegal and in this country we’ve managed to close all safe routes, leaving small boat crossings as the only option. It’s a political game, leading to dangerous decisions, often ending in disastrous consequences. Just as the fox has had to find a new place to live and survive (the city), more and more people will be forced to flee their homeland, in search of a place to live, because of climate change and war. “No human is illegal” brings our attention back to the simple fact that human beings are equally valid, regardless of apparent differences, simply because we are all human with the right to breathe the same air.
The REVOLUTION graffiti is a call to arms, but also hints that the only force that will prevail is one based on love. “Sufre” writ large, translates as “Suffer” in Spanish, and sometimes it can feel as if everything is conspiring against us, but the inclusion of the word NOT underneath suggests we don’t need to suffer. Yes, the wall we have built might appear broken, but as you can see, there are still messages of hope.
100cm x 150cm. Oil on canvas.
