“The Ventriloquist’s Doll”

This is a painting from my forthcoming exhibition of paintings and drawings.  It is a watercolour on paper, 77×57 centimetres (framed) and is called ” The Ventriloquist’s Doll”.  The images in the exhibition have been inspired by a 1000 kilometres walk, called the Via de Plata, I completed in Spain this year.   You may ask what a ventriloquist’s doll has to do with a 1000 kilometres walk, so, for an answer, read on.

The image talks about the influence parents have on creating a reality for their children and how deeply it becomes ingrained in their subconscious and how much it controls their adult life.

It is a self-portrait and shows me as a ventriloquist’s doll. When I was growing up, I always felt that somebody else was pulling the strings.  I am a child of the 50’s and at that time there was a craze for wallpaper. It was seen as a symbol of progress, change and modernity.  In the inset, my parents are hanging wallpaper inside my head to create both a reality and their life plan for me.

Inset

One of the  great benefits of long distance  walks such as the Caminos in Spain, of which the Via de Plata is only one of many, is that they lead you into such strange and interesting places. Provided you are prepared to leave the paraphernalia of everyday life behind, you will eventually find yourself standing outside what you have always accepted as reality, looking in.

The exhibition opens on Thursday 1 December 2016, at 7pm,  in Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, 216 Falls Road, Belfast BT12 6AH