Wanderer

I think that the solitude of wandering and losing oneself literally and in thought to be an important aspect of life.  My life is very structured and that is how I like it to be.  Wandering however releases me from myself and presents opportunities to find out about new places, new things in life and new aspects about ourselves.  Being able to grow mentally as a person is something that is important and necessary.  I often reflect on things from the past when I create my art work.  I think about how I would do various things in the past as I am now.  It helps highlight that one has progressed from mistakes from various points in the past and to not continue to repeat them.  I also find that allowing the mind the freedom to wander allows one the ability to observe others and their behaviour and how that affects me.  My conclusion is that I am now in control of my own mind (although this has not always been the case) and that the only thing that I have control over is myself.  I could say that I can't change various things about me because of autism, but I think that is an excuse for being lazy and not making the effort to improve of some of the difficulties that autism presents.  Obviously some areas such as awkwardness around new people, learning how to keep a conversation going with a stranger may never be improved  to other people's standards but I still think that there are many lessons to be learned from life. 

Wanderer, oil painting on canvas, 106cm x 106cm (2016)

This painting represents a street in Nafplio one of my favourite places in Greece.  The overall composition is structured and with perspective of the buildings an important backdrop to the central figurative figure.  I think that this painting sums up my love of structure and also my love of allowing myself to wander physically and mentally.