Exposure - the artwork

Flyer

Me Me

This is Me and Me again, and yet in both versions I come of as a dork... good hair though. Enjoy the show.

Animal

Pencil and digital, 1 of 25 limited edition signed and numbered digital prints on photo-paper
Our evolutionary history of predator and prey is embedded in our minds. Our reptilian brain is just as much a part of us, tempered but not completely silenced by our more recently evolved cortex. We are beasts.

Torn

Digital, 1 of 25 limited edition signed and numbered digital prints on photo-paper
Have you ever felt stretched between the extremes? Terrifying, blind happiness and the deepest sadness are all experienced by the same being, sometimes in the same day. I don’t experience extremes. The wild swings of others often startle me.

Open Up

Oil, digital, and pencil; 1 of 25 limited edition signed and numbered digital prints on photo-paper
This is one of the first artworks that started what became this collection; a process of opening up what has been closed off.

Close Down

Digital, and pencil; 1 of 25 limited edition signed and numbered digital prints on photo-paper
This is one of the first artworks that started what became this collection; a process of opening up what has been closed off.

Shunga

Digital, 1 of 25 limited edition signed and numbered digital prints on photo-paper.
An ancient erotic art-form in Japan called “Shunga” was commonly hung by normal, average Japanese people. The translation of “Shunga” is “picture of spring.” In pre-European-influenced Japan, men and women would bathe
nude together in public baths. It was even a common place to meet a husband or wife. Connection with Europe brought with it the much more conservative culture around sex and nudity. Do you think that it made an improvement? Can you even tell what you think about something separately from what your culture tells you you should think? I don’t know if I can.

Totem

Digital, 1 of 25 limited edition signed and numbered digital prints on photo-paper
Every painting in this show is a portrait of Sean (the artist) and/or his wife. If you can't see our bodies, you are seeing an aspect of our minds from the artist’s perspective. Are you surprised by the things I chose to include in this picture or the wider show to represent myself and my wife? What would you have as a totem to represent you? Would you show anyone?

Meditaur

Pencil and digital, 1 of 25 limited edition signed and numbered digital prints on photo-paper.
Who are your influences? Years ago the idea of being derivative of another artist drove me crazy. Over time, I have become more at peace with my influences. It does not crush me anymore when someone says, “oh, that looks like so and so’s work.” It’s much more peaceful being yourself than trying to be completely unique at all costs. That beast is at peace.

Shop

Available to order online until Wednesday, November 30, 2016.

Sean McMurchy’s Exposure brings to light the battles between one’s internal world and cultural norms. Exposed are the immediate, impulsive thoughts of the reptilian brain, as well as thoughts and behaviours initiated from deep within that fail to find expression because they are culturally repressed. The artist strips away social expectations to reveal ambitions, anxieties, urges, and inspirations.

The aim of these works is to acknowledge and openly discuss the darker parts of human nature that are so often concealed. Behavioural standards imposed by society are essential for a peaceful and functional community, but censoring thoughts and feelings to the point of denying their existence may be counterproductive and may create a rift between society and individuals.

In acknowledging that to be human is to be, at times, in conflict with cultural norms, we may be released from feeling inferior, unfit, and alienated from society. Perhaps a more harmonious and tolerant society could be achieved by recognizing one’s own unique and shared internal deviances and openly discussing rather than shunning the exposed deviances of others.

Most of Sean’s previous artistic output has been focused on commercial work in the video game industry, working within a team to deliver a creative product. Exposure is a series of portraits depicting a naive artist in the process of breaking open and rebelling against the confines of education, industry, and cultural norms. Sean has been living in Cambridge, UK for the past four years and is originally from Vancouver, Canada.