Patched, Torn and Broken captures the beauty and madness of skateboarding through a multimedia collection of six separate artworks, linked by the layered and collaged expression of the subculture.
The facial collage illustrates the grunge culture often heavily associated with skateboarding which is conveyed through layering, peeling, tearing and juxtaposing detailed portrait photographs, tag graffiti and skate magazine graphics. Inspired by collage artist Basquait, layered images coincide with colourful drawings, text and painted background.
The works represent the physical aspects of skateboarding and the injuries I’ve sustained over time – broken teeth, a broken arm, scraped skin, torn clothing and countless broken skateboard’s that have been deconstructed and recycled dozens of times.
The paintings depict the outer “physical” shell of the skateboarder, scars that tell a story of jumps made and missed is the commonality that brings skateboarders together. Pieces of clothing have been torn, cut and patched onto the paintings just as layers are applied to shoes and jeans to hide the wear and tear of the sport.
Inspired by David Hockney, spliced photographs encapsulate the notion of movement and the blurred and distorted perspective of a skater in flight. The images read like a film sequence flicking through motion. Gerhard Richter’s technique of dragging paint across the canvas supports the moving images and represents the scrapes and scuff marks of the skate park.
The body of work sits across six canvases which becomes a collage in itself via the connections of graffiti and subject matter, from one canvas to another. Each can be read as separate and whole but they are all Patched, Torn and Broken.