“THE SUN IS GOD.”

WILLIAM TURNER

1775 - 1851

ENGLISH PAINTER WHO SPECIALISED IN LANDSCAPES.

THESE ARE THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN HIS LAST WORDS. HE DIED 19th DECEMBER 1851

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AS A BOY, BROUGHT UP IN A PROTESTANT IN BELFAST DURING THE TROUBLES, I WAS SURROUNDED BY ADULTS WHO TRIED TO INDOCTRINATE ME WITH THE LIE THAT ALL CATHOLICS WERE EVIL AND THAT ANY VIOLENCE INFLICTED UPON THEM WOULD BE DONE IN THE NAME OF GOD. I WITNESSED MANY ACTS OF BARBARISM - PEOPLE BEING SHOT OR TARRED AND FEATHERED, OR BLOWN UP. WHEN I WAS THIRTEEN, I ESCAPED THIS VISION OF HELL AND MOVED TO ENGLAND.

MY ADULT LIFE HAS BEEN DEVOTED TO PAINTING, SPECIFICALLY, THE USE OF LIGHT FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT AS A MEANS TO CONVEY A SENSE OF SPIRITUALITY THAT ISN’T DEPENDANT UPON FAITH. THIS IS MY COUNTER, OR PROTEST, IF YOU LIKE, TOWARDS RELIGIOUS DOGMA.

TURNER’S LAST WORDS SHOULD BE APPLIED AS A BASIS FOR ANY ARTIST’S STATEMENT OF INTENT, AS THEY HOLD A POWERFUL, UNDENIABLE TRUTH.

I AM FASCINATED BY THE AMBIGUITY LIGHT CREATES WHEN CAST ON A FACE OR BODY, A LANDSCAPE OR URBAN SETTING. IT CAN BE SUBTLE OR DRAMATIC OR ACT AS A BRIDGE BETWEEN THE FIGURATIVE AND THE ABSTRACT, THE COMMONPLACE AND THE ETHEREAL.

IN MY PAINTING, ‘DIVINE LIGHT’, I USED A GREEN RAY, OR BOLT, OF LIGHT, TO REPRESENT KNOWLEDGE AND SCIENCE.

IT IS NOT A RELIGIOUS STATEMENT - MORE A RECOGNITION OF HUMANITY’S PURSUIT OF TRUTH AND UNDERSTANDING.

WARREN KING