‘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 are more experimental in 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). However, in such a depressing world, it’s the transformative quality of art that interests me (did punk or hip-hop really subvert anything?). I therefore mainly want to focus on showcasing Adrift in Amnesia and The Cycle Diaries alongside creative writing, which takes a slightly different direction (see embodied poetry). I am currently writing my second novel – a fairy tale adventure about two lovable cats in search of a new home – and may share some posts of its development later this 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)
paperback edition available to purchase here.
poetry on plasterboard (2009-2011)
Marking the transition of my work from primarily painting to eventually centring on writing, which drew from a variety of interests ranging from conspiracy theories and the 2008 financial crash to Nietzsche’s Thus Spake Zarathustra and the prose poems of Oscar Wilde.