percival alexander

‘Life begins on the other side of despair.’ ~ Jean-Paul Sartre

My visual art has always leaned towards the sublime and formalist – be it Romanticism’s imaginative relationship with nature, Jungian ideas of the collective unconscious (notable in Abstract Expressionism), Kandinsky’s notion of the spiritual in art or Eastern philosophical musings about connectedness. Such themes continue to inform my work but, somewhere along the line, I began writing and despair towards the absurdity of it all just poured out – often with the mouth of a sailor! I think I get that from my father who was a builder, for they tend to have a similar command of the King’s English. I decided to harness such disillusioned anger and channel it through the above pseudonym, Percival Alexander, which culminated in my first novel, Adrift in Amnesia, and book of poetry, The Cycle Diaries (samples below – I expand on the literary influences behind each book in the introductions).

Other pieces take the form of short stories, poetry, sweary prose and bloggy diatribes taking literary cues less from the lofty ideals of Romanticism and more from the provocative immediacy of punk and hip-hop, alongside anti-establishment comedians like Bill Hicks and George Carlin, which evolved largely from my earlier paintings on plasterboard (below). I am often in two minds about sharing these pieces – they are a decidedly less filtered response to an absurd world! However, an absurd world it surely is and I find something cathartic about allowing a more direct response to despair; to see things in its immediacy, which inevitably forms an antithesis to ideals. Be it populism, the Manosphere, brittle conservatives, woke, identity politics, DEI, universities, science, mental health, celebrity activists, Big Tech, the arts, cultural homogenisation, the media, mind-numbing conformity, endless war, environmental destruction, the monetary system… there isn’t much about modern life I don’t find ridiculous. I suppose there is a significant distinction, i.e., they are a somewhat limited creative act (did punk or hip-hop really subvert anything?).

I don’t believe that art will change the world, but I do see value to believing in its transformative potential. I therefore want to focus primarily on showcasing poetry and fiction, which takes a slightly different direction. I am currently writing my second novel – a fairy tale adventure involving two lovable cats in search of a new home – and may share some posts of its development later in the year.

adrift in amnesia (extracts of chapters 1–4)

adrift in amnesia: introduction to a daydreamer

adrift in amnesia, chapter one – aurea spiralis

adrift in amnesia, chapter two – chelmswood

adrift in amnesia, chapter three – reading, 1991

adrift in amnesia, chapter four – breakdown

paperback and Kindle editions available to purchase here.

the cycle diaries (extracts)

introduction

canto i

canto iv

canto xi