Days of conflict and canvas for Ghislaine
A Ghislaine exhibit A Ghislaine exhibit
WHEN four suicide bombers staged a unified attack on the London underground and bus services on July 7, 2005, the British public realised how close the terrorist threat was.
Eccles-born artist Ghislaine Howard, associate lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, was in London when the bombs went off. She was so affected by the bombings and the newspaper images reporting the tragedy that she set about interpreting the event in the only way she knew how – by painting an image each day from The Guardian newspaper.
“We’re so bombarded with images now, it’s very hard to give it all time and, in this world, we feel so powerless to change or do anything,” says Ghislaine about the roots of the project.
“I felt as a painter, ‘I can do this and give some time to thinking about the people affected by these conflicts and events worldwide’. As the work built up, I put them into groups on the studio walls and they began to resonate with each other and take on a poignancy.”
A selection of her paintings are on display at the Imperial War Museum North in an exhibition called 365, a title signifying the daily painting process she set herself. Some of the images feature familiar faces from the international conflicts, such as Saddam Hussein, while others are more ambiguous scenes of war, conflict, peace and reconciliation.
All of them were completed between July 2006 and February 2009 on uniform canvases of 8in x 6in.
“I chose that size, a canvas almost the size you can hold in your hand, because I didn’t want to make them over expressive, to impose too much style on them. I wanted to paint them simply, faithfully, lovingly, gently,” Ghislaine explains.
Contemplative
“I wanted them to be quite contemplative and reflective of how I spent that time each day, quietly digesting the images and interpreting them. Putting on paint is a physical thing so there is style going on there, but I haven’t tried to make them expressionistic.”
The project continues to evolve and Ghislaine estimates that she has now completed at least 600 paintings. An additional four paintings will be added to the exhibition each Saturday in May.
“The interesting thing about a photograph is that, no matter how powerful it is, it is flat and instant,” adds Ghislaine. “Painting is a visceral thing. You can see the human hand at work.”
The human touch is very much at the centre of Ghislaine’s work.
Named Woman Of The Year in 2008, by the distinguished foundation the Women Of The Year Assembly, for her achievements and contribution to society, Ghislaine has worked in hospitals, prisons, refuges, theatres and churches.
Her first exhibition at Salford Art Gallery and Museum in 1985 and acclaimed 1993 show A Shared Experience, for Manchester Art Gallery, both examined emotions and connectivity.
Her work has sold widely, including into the Royal Collection, and her significant series The Stations Of The Cross continues to tour British cathedrals.
“As I’ve worked, I’ve been drawn to the other side of life as well. Being a mother with a small child, I realised that every old person and every one in doorways has been a baby once,” says Ghislaine.
“It opens your eyes to the fragility of life. Being at 7/7, at a time when the mobiles go down and there are helicopters everywhere and you’re talking to people who just missed that bus that’s now in hundreds of pieces, I wanted to do some paintings to work through that experience. When I started making the series I intended to continue each day for a year – now I see no reason to stop.”
Showing at the Imperial War Museum North until Sunday, June 21. Entry is free.
Published: Thu, 12 March, 2009
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