Trapped Batman no.5

Here is the recently completed penultimate painting in the 'Trapped Batman' series.  The use of polythene is a callback to 'Secret Identity' and other bag-based series but this time it is stretched tightly over the model.  With this series I have been trying to extend my vocabulary of devices which can hold a subject to a vertical surface.  Each of these new devices - string, parcel tape, masking tape, netting, elastic bands, stretched polythene, could be explored further in future paintings.  Working with these new devices has reminded me of the initial impulse to use bags back in 2007: I had a desire to make still life paintings that could work in a contemporary context and not look 'old masterish'.  This meant that traditional still life settings such as the shelf and the table were out.  For a time the idea of objects seen from above seemed viable but ultimately I wanted to make a space that was continuous with that of the gallery so the idea of a bagged object hanging from a hook (initially on pegboard) turned out to be a good solution.  In a way the 'Trapped Batman' series is a range of alternative solutions to the same problem.