Collection: Brock Butler

Brock Butler is a Kilkenny based artist. His work has been exhibited in galleries in Dublin, Galway, Belfast, Edinburgh  and London  as well as at various arts festivals and international art fairs. He has three times been awarded Government per cent for art commissions. Collectors of his work include financier Dermot Desmond and Senator David Norris. He is listed in the 6th edition of The Buyers Guide to Irish Art 

Artist's statement    ‘Songs without Words’   ;

People often ask the question (particularly with abstract art) "What is it about ? "

This can be a difficult question to answer, because even though there may be ideas and concepts that inform a painting , there is not always an easily articulated narrative , as there would be with writing or with figurative or landscape painting. I compare it to the appreciation of music ,which most people can listen to and appreciate aurally without feeling the need to understand what it is "about" Songs with lyrics may often tell a story , but even then , the music is often the thing that we respond to primarily.

         A painting (of any kind ) could be compared to a musical composition , with shapes ,lines, colours, orchestrated together to form a whole, as musical notes and sounds are arranged to form a musical composition each individual's response to a painting , therefore can vary according to their own interpretation, experience and current psychological perspective However , it can be interesting to know the artists intent and the following is a general guide to some aspects of my own work. I don't think it is particularly important for a viewer to understand my intentions - just like a song, if the music doesn't elicit a response, clever lyrics alone will not make it successful , and similarly , paintings with clever or esoteric concepts will not make a successful painting if it does not also appeal as a purely visual experience.

Symbolism ; 

A number of symbols or motifs tend to keep recurring in my work ; As a general guide, spheres and circles represent an aspiration toward completeness, harmony, serenity, peace and self-fulfilment.

Spirals 

 Certain spirals maintain exactly the same proportion or mathematical precision no matter how they grow in either direction (spiraling inward or outward, by invariably maintaining pi proportions). This represents perfection and, as it has no theoretical starting point has no beginning or end and therefore also represents infinity. However, the spiral that I use mostly is the Fibonacci Spiral, which starts with a 

proportion of 1:1 and gradually grows toward the pi proportions. It therefore is used here to represent 

continued overleaf….

an imperfect state, aspiring - through growth - toward perfection Colours - Red often predominates, representing energy, passion, vitality, and the essence of life. Gold is used in healing, both spiritual and physical. Blue is a colour of meditation, and also represents the primeval waters, from where all life originated. The over-all aim is to create work that is meditative, harmonious, and life-enhancing - work that will inspire a feeling of peace and contemplation in the viewer, even if he or she knew nothing about any of the above.