Michael Kirkham: 8 Figures

About

The 8 figures that constitute this Michael Kirkham solo show portray subtle insights into the darker corners of the human psyche. Painted mostly from the imagination, they mix fantasy with reality. Kirkham depicts his eight subjects in uncomfortable or awkward positions, (half) undressed, engaging in acts of sexual nature, being in love, daydreaming, generally in some measure, compromised.

An important aspect of Kirkham’s work is his use of light which differs in each work. Whether as in the negative paintings; light sources are curiously reversed, luminescence from out of the shadows, or in the playfulness in which Kirkham seems to draw with light to highlight the intimate areas of the body creating a more powerful and forceful expression.

All the paintings are equally intriguing and touching, the power, beauty and empathy in his work is inseparable from the discomfort it brings about when it confronts the viewer.