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The crystal series was started in 2019 with 'I will lead you (out of here)' and the loose, gestural style of this first painting rapidly developed with a much more precise application of paint during lockdown.
The glowing forms of the quartz crystal in ‘All these silent moments’ describes an extremely slow growing mineral but it reminds us of both a small, momentary splash in a pool and a vast, exploding supernova. ‘Didn’t I give you nearly everything’ describes thin, fragile gypsum filaments as they expand into a solid yet extremely delicate heart shaped form. Both canvases were painted slowly and carefully in very thin glazes during lockdown, MacArthur’s approach changed subtly to reflect the collective feeling of anxiety arising from the pandemic. The crystal forms are beautiful and strange; emerging from the painted void they seem suddenly to mimic the alien appearance of a virus and become both ominous and beautiful. Within a single object our desire to accumulate treasures as tokens of love and displays of wealth is contrasted with the knowledge of our own fragility and ultimate demise.
The glowing forms of the quartz crystal in ‘All these silent moments’ describes an extremely slow growing mineral but it reminds us of both a small, momentary splash in a pool and a vast, exploding supernova. ‘Didn’t I give you nearly everything’ describes thin, fragile gypsum filaments as they expand into a solid yet extremely delicate heart shaped form. Both canvases were painted slowly and carefully in very thin glazes during lockdown, MacArthur’s approach changed subtly to reflect the collective feeling of anxiety arising from the pandemic. The crystal forms are beautiful and strange; emerging from the painted void they seem suddenly to mimic the alien appearance of a virus and become both ominous and beautiful. Within a single object our desire to accumulate treasures as tokens of love and displays of wealth is contrasted with the knowledge of our own fragility and ultimate demise.
