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DAVE GOWERS
Location
Cumbria
Website
Social Media
Medium
Video
Title
The Key to Happiness is to Keep on Smiling
Bio
My art has taken two very distinct paths; one which existed before my illness, the other that emerged in the space afterwards. It was put to me that I underwent a transfiguration, a form of renaissance at that turning point, which feels not so far from the truth. Before things changed in my life, I painted my memories of the seascapes of my childhood, concerning myself with large empty spaces; the mass of the sky and the sea. After my illness, my interest has shifted into trying to comprehend and make sense of the journey that I have recently experienced. The bizarre and yet fascinating world that I was thrown into during my medical treatment; the closeness of death and the transient nature of our lives. I am currently exploring ideas around the interaction of my serious illness and memory, in particular, that of my childhood. This was the place where my thoughts settled when I was closest to the edge. I’m left with the idea that all we consist of is a buddle of memories and experiences wrapped up in our fragile bodies.
My work is an exploration of the interaction between a serious illness and my childhood recollections. These memories of my happy childhood by the seaside figured most strongly when death seemed close by. I have used Radiographic scans of my body to make short films. Taking some of these images, I have colourised and animated them and with the addition of audio, produced short vignettes.These films are an exploration of some of the senses that I experienced during this illness; it was a difficult time, but it had elements of strange fascination particularly in the form of the treatment, and the realisation of one’s own fragility. In this piece I have made a kaleidoscopic film which has transformed the colourised scans, where you can see muscle, tissue and even the disease, into a simple collection of moving colourful shapes, just as a child would see and be amazed by with a Kaleidoscope. I have also upscaled the film which has the effect of drawing the viewer inside thereby entering the body of the artist during treatment. Ultimately my piece considers how we consist of a blend of flesh, bones and memories.
