gus cummins
My previous paintings had mainly avoided the subject of epilepsy. My last 2 paintings in 2006 were named 'Post Ictal: Nocturnal' and 'Post Ictal: Nameless'. Post Ictal refers to the period of confusion following an epileptic seizure. Before that my paintings were about the beauty of geometric composition and glazes over textures.
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| 'Post Ictal: Nocturnal.' Acrylic on canvas 1m sq |
'Post Ictal: Nameless.' Acrylic on canvas 1m sq |
The breakdown of the grid in the abstract style of the 'Post Ictal' pair of paintings refers to the loss of cognitive process that I experience for 10 minutes following a seizure. During this time I lose language, memory and sense of identity (hence 'Nameless'). The seizures most often occur at night ('Nocturnal').
I quickly realised that these paintings only had meaning for me, so decided to look for other ways to represent epilepsy in images. I found a lot of solutions in the many brain scans, EEG wave forms and other medical recordings that I had stored away.
In 2007 I started work producing an exhibition.