What is the Story for Tomorrow?

Background: This practice-led research examined ideas of uncertainty, connecting to philiospher Boris Groys’ (2018) concerns that contemporary times can best be described as uncanny, where we are more preoccupied with our ever changing present, and comprehending what this may be, than any time in history. The research was also supported by theorist Isabelle Graw’s exploration into the multiplicitous and idiomatic nature of painting as an apposite medium for changing times (Graw, 2016) Contribution: This research project presented paintings that investigated unconscious responses to enigmatic and changing times, times that appear riven with anxiety. The paintings examined ideas of stability as unattainable, presenting a society where desire coexists with anxiety, investigated through equivocal imagery and the inherent ambiguities of the idiom of painting. The paintings in this research appeared unsettled, suggesting that meaning forms and collapses between the materiality of paint and the familiar/unfamiliar nature of the subject matters, where ‘ … meaning is suggested, whilst simultaneously denied or subverted (Powles & Cox, 2019). Significance: These paintings were selected to be shown by Susan Boutwell Gallery in Munich, Germany. They were accompanied by an online essay written by Julia Powles artist, writer and curator (Exhibition Manger Heide Museum of Modern Art) and Steve Cox, artist and writer (Vault Magazine). The exhibition received peer review through an exhibition review in Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of Germany's major newspapers, by the arts writer and reviewer Evelyn Vogel.