The Door Series
This series of 8 paintings grew from many years of being intrigued by doors around the world. Everywhere I went I found myself noticing and photographing doors. They seemed to be a statement from the people who created them and/or owned them. Some spoke of history, some of cultural heritage and many of master craftsmanship. But there was also humour and individuality and creativity. I thought they were beautiful.
I found myself exploring different threads of what doors symbolize and what they represent on an abstract level. I love the tension that the physical presence of a door sets up. The ideas of entrance, greeting and welcoming versus departure, denial and obstacles are inherent in a door. They can be the way we introduce ourselves to visitors and the symbolic welcome into our lives or they can be the barriers that keep out the bad and safeguard us within. They are the welcome home after a long journey or the banishment from a previous life. They are that moment of recognition that we’ve made it safely. And they can be the point of departure to something new. Doors are often represented as portals of opportunity. They present us with the possibilities of new experiences. When you look a place and you see a landscape of doors you know there are choices to be made and people to be met. They pull us in to face what is next and remind us of what has passed.
These acrylic works are a contemporary abstract reflection of what doors have meant to me.
