Craig Donald

Donald’s work deals with our understanding and interpretation of the past. History and memory are dismantled and recombined to form layers of meaning, opening a forum to examine the systems and boundaries of visual communication.  This is investigated with particular reference to the means of collection, interpretation and dissemination of information; with an emphasis on human attempts at control and the areas where these can fail.

Donald works with painting, drawing, collage, found objects and installation.  Each medium brings its own historical and material connotations.  These are woven together with differing processes resulting in a framework that adds fresh complexity but also provides a method for understanding, based on what knowledge the viewer brings.  They also present differing levels of interaction through their means of production, offering an interpretive space for the viewer: a web of signifiers calling for a narrative.

Current areas of focus include tensions between contemporary and historical methods of information storage, retrieval and presentation.  Also, a blending of the political and the personal, with more familiar or popular images from history decontextualised and reimagined. The relative democratization and accessibility of information exchange through the increasing expanse of the internet, combined with its incorporeality, leads to a situation where we must piece together our own story of the world using the best qualitative judgement we can muster.