Billy Childish

factual information about a painting’s starting points can get very prescriptive. 

i make a picture in the same way as a child does – something ‘out there’ interests me. making a painting of that ‘something’ then joins me with the universal creator/creation in a more intent way than just being an observer. its a way of recognising, and joining in, with god.

any possible psychological (unconscious) connection to the subject might become clear after the painting is made. i never start with an intention of leading the viewer (or myself). i tend to start and finish a painting in one sitting and rarely return to correct or edit. basically, if the painting goes well I get out of the way and allow the picture to paint itself. i don’t fear or care much about an audience or possible failure.

a lone man in an empty boat stands before an iceberg. it could be seen as being about man, nature and rising sea levels. but this was not my intention at all. (though ive been a supporter of environmental issues since young).

the diver becomes my wife (we practice swimming and diving) water is the unconscious. 

i paint, write, and make music, but these are mundane descriptions. we are all creative but some of us have it in our nature, or necessity, to maintain this and give whatever art form we choose preeminence in our lives. i believe that all these attributes are non-personal and from god: any minor investigation into reality will reveal that we create nothing within the universe; we merely manifest within it. what we are is not very clear to us.

my paintings are made to look at a wonder. like a book, the viewer becomes the co-creator. imagination born of our own unconscious (and the collective unconscious).

as i work fluidly from painting to painting, theme to theme, so the cycles develop organically and explain themselves without my prescription. in essence, i am painting one painting that is ever-changing as if of its own volition – the painting of myself.