Sanctuary

Introduction by David Glyn Davies

‘Last year I found a kind of sanctuary. Away from the pressures of trying to find a gallery, I was able to concentrate on what I wanted to do. This was a new experience for me and has given me greater freedom of mind and practice. After this I asked myself a question:  what is sanctuary? For me, it is a place to personally and symbolically regenerate new life. Within this simple notion I was able to ask questions about the nature of my art practice as well as question some aspects of my own behavior’.    Ian Rogers March 2008.

Close your eyes as you once did as a child. Hide your head in your hands and you become invisible. Do you remember doing that as a child? One minute you’re there and the next you’re not; in the darkness behind your fingers no one can see you. In the middle of all those people you hear your parents say “I can’t see you, where have you gone? For a few brief moments you are gone, away from everyone and everything; in a place of nothingness, a place of quiet, a place that is yours and yours alone.  Take your hands away from your face and open your eyes and there you are, back in the world for all to see. Remember?

Shadows and light, a symbolic transition between nothingness and reality,

Hidden behind our fingers, we traverse surfaces of light and dark,

Metaphoric translations of our emotions, we know the contradiction.

When you look at these paintings, float across earth colour expanses of peace and tranquility and then find their points of entry.  Peer into their circular access points and think about a symbolic emotional life lurking quietly in the darkness. Pass through and think of a journey into and around the circle and its symbolic meaning for infinity. Then traverse again through the emotional, physical, empirical, metaphysical, philosophical and spiritual nature of what we are. When I look at these paintings, I think of the Sufi and their mystic quest for divine peace. Passing between darkness and light and then back again, they find the link between the divine spirit and the human soul. At the height of this quest or inward journey, there is a point at which they must recognize and come to terms with all the contradictory facets that make up physical and non physical human life.

This exhibition reflects a journey of one person and their discovery of a unique and sacred place, a place in which to ‘regenerate new life’. These new works are by far Ian Roger’s most mature works to date, and in the essence of their subject matter, give us all something unique and sacred upon which to ponder.