insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 07 - September 2015 | Page 18

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

polythene to try and capture what dementia
does to the mind and body. I lost my father-inlaw to dementia and sadly now my mother is
suffering; I am well aware of how devastating it
can be. The polythene almost looks like a veil,
something that entraps the figure I am painting,
putting them into a different world from that of
the viewer.
Your work is often challenging
and disturbing…
I am not frightened of challenging the
viewer and making them question their
preconceptions or judgments they may have
made. The painting about dementia is not a
pretty painting but then dementia is not a pretty
subject; it is a challenging and devastating

subject so I have tried to use a way to shock
the viewers in the way I have been devastated
and shocked by my experiences. My paintings
are never entirely negative even when the
subjects are difficult such as dementia,
disability and death. There is always a mixture
of the positive and the negative in each
painting. I don’t like paintings to be rhetorical; I
think questions should be left unanswered.
How do you create the different layers of
meaning in your work?
The meanings are revealed by the subject
matter. I paint classically, using thin layers of
paint called glazes that are allowed to dry in
between, almost like tinted varnishes that you
add to, layer upon layer. This gives a painting

18

more depth and a greater intensity and also
gives a classical feel to it. I don’t like a painting
to be of a particular time; I like them to be of
no particular time. What I’m painting about is
bound to have been a theme relevant to a time
within the last 100 years.
What are your plans for the future?
Creating a new studio in order to create larger
works – this is a wonderful space with high
ceilings and huge north facing window.
www.robertolliverjones.co.uk
07752 711197