InfanTile & VolaTile

«Shattered Dreams»

1972

mixed technique 74,5x86,5x6 cm

Dedicated to James Matthew Barry’s Peter Pan

Tinkerbell’s wings separated by a tiny curved roofing tile.

We associate wings with freedom, flight, light-heartedness and childhood.

Peter Pan is the eternal child, who in refusing to become an adult retains his freedom – and has the ability to fly. On one of his flights over the roofs of London, he discovers Mary Darling’s house in Kensington, where Darling is reading bedtime stories to her children. He is seen by Mrs Darling, and while fleeing loses his shadow. He returns the next night to retrieve it, and is helped by Mrs Darling’s daughter Wendy.

So it’s a story about the desire to be free and the fear of losing freedom, the constant balancing act of being (free) and having (freedom). You cannot find freedom unless you carry it inside yourself.

Incidentally, it’s interesting to note that in this picture the tile is a Mediterranean tile, whereas London rooftops are usually made of slate. A reference to the emotional balancing act the artist performs between his love of London (where he was born) and Rome (where he lives) ?