This Interview was posted on our instagram page on 11 April 2020 as part our #DistanctSocialising series with Piers Secunda. The London-based artist has created several series of works based on his trips to Iraq, and shares our fascination with unusual materials.
Where are you currently working from, and what is keeping you inspired and creative during this period?
I’m working from a desk in my bedroom on a group of drawings which are from photos of the interior of the Mosul Museums, using Mosul charcoal ink, my studio is an hour from my home so I’m not going back and forth for now. The available time, bright weather and an increasing need to complete the works are all I need to energise me!
Do you think this experience will lead to any positive changes in the way we live out lives and behave towards others?
It's odd to feel concerned about what people walking down a London street 60 yards away, will do next. That will pass as corona virus fades away but as the concerns pass, I hope that this pandemic crisis will underscore the need to protect and reinvigorate the National Health Service (NHS) to the fullest. The UK has probably never been in greater need of the NHS since 1945, or more enamoured of the fabulous doctors and nurses who keep it alive. Les hope the Prime Minister will come out of St Thomas' Hospital invigorated with a passion to carry out a truthful and wholesome re-boot of the NHS, from which we will benefit immeasurably. Id the UK gets that, it will be sufficient in my opinion.
Visit pierssecunda.com to take a deeper look at his profound and thought-provoking painting and sculpture.