From the Red Slippers to Plato's Cave

I have always loved the rich feminine symbolism of 'the red slippers'.  They are so clearly a symbol of female sexuality and abound in fairy stories and art alike.  

There have been times in my life when the image of the red slippers has resonated with me very strongly, at times of transition or when I've felt lost; the red slippers have come to me asking for my attention, drawing me to them like clues. 

The slippers above were inherited from an aunt and are amongst my most treasured possessions.  They 'appeared' in a recent drawing entitled "Guidance".*  The two monoprints above and below were made in my twenties and are based on these slippers.

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I treasure my slippers, but I think I treasure their image, what they represent, the ideas they transmit more so.  

Images are especially important to me, I think in images and images communicate to me.  If I pay careful attention, if I listen, they are like little gifts communicating valuable information that I could not receive any other way.  Images are my soul food.

I consider myself to be an image-maker, the image may come in any number of forms - a mono-print, a drawing, a performance, a photograph or video.  The medium is the vehicle for the transmission of the image, but the image is more important to me.  ( I guess I am more aligned to Plato's Theory of Forms than I am to Marshall McCluhan's "the medium is the message").

For me images have the power to act on you, like medicine, over time they work their magic,  something seeps in, is communicated.  To make and respond to an image takes time.  

Making my work has required periods of introversion and isolation.  My practice as an artist, is an attempt to communicate that which cannot be put into words, to find images that  resonate and connect firstly to myself and hopefully to others.  From time to time I need to go back to Plato's Cave.