Definition: PIXIE
noun pix-ie (‘pix-iē) (pl. Pixies)
:a cheerful mischievous sprite, a small being, playful and having magical powers.
: (art-technology) a discrete digital element embedded in a painting or sculpture; a display area of pixels.
Welcome to my combines - paintings which combine traditional art materials with embedded digital technology.
Each painting has one or more pixies (see definition) which respond to the story in the painting by showing pictures or video in an endless loop.
Surveillance Fish (2024)
Dimensions: 100 x 100 cm
Media: Acrylic paint and drawing media on stretched canvas with embedded pixies.
There are two pixies. The main one shows first-person-view combat footage of the sinking of the Russian warship Ivanovets in February 2024. It was the first ever sinking of an enemy warship by sea-drone. The second pixie, located just below the main one, shows an animated SONAR display which continually sweeps by.
Civilisation (2024)
Dimensions: 100 x 100 cm
Media: Acrylic paint and drawing media on canvas with embedded pixie.
The pixie is located as an eye of a mask which appears to stare out at you. It reveals a sequence of drawings made in response to a selection of historic photographs. The drawings appear to jitter and jump as if being screened as old cine footage. Each drawing gently emerges from the darkness of the pixie, staying visible for a minute before fading away.
This is an ongoing work with drawings being added.
Massacre at Izium, 2022 (2024)
Dimensions: 100 x 100 cm
Media: Acrylic paint, mixed media and collage, on canvas with embedded pixie.
The pixie is located in the television screen at top right of the painting. The pixie-space shows a documentary clip of a visit to the site of a residential apartment in the town of Izium, Ukraine. The painting was made in response to this documentary, and the documentary now appears in the painting.