I am compelled to produce for one reason or another in a variety of media, from sculpture to drawing, painting, film and performance.
My sculptural works are unique originals, produced by hand. They are either shown individually or en masse, as seen in the installation 'Discontinued'. When these works are combined and contrasted against each other in such an installation it is my intention to produce a subversive shrine of sorts; a contradictory vision which recalls votive offerings, video nasties, schoolboy humour and schoolboy error. I invite the viewer to seek out the familiar and question the unfamiliar.
My drawings and paintings are deeply important to my practice. Recent collaged drawings comprise hundreds (if not thousands) of hand drawn elements. The fact that these could easily be xeroxed, and the production time dramatically reduced, does not interest me. In my view this would cheapen the end product - the almost masochistic devotion to them forms an integral part of their appreciation. Visually, they are inspired by a combined obsession for Japanese prints, 1960’s underground comics and the Italian gialli genre of film-making. The latter also heavily informs their often deliberately convoluted, pompous titles.
Large-scale wall paintings such as 'Moron′omo' act like billboard advertisements for their smaller sculptural counterparts. It is important to point out here that in many cases I am inspired by real life stories - no matter how ludicrous they may be. At the other end of the scale, minute paintings on cardboard are inspired by the giddy sense of the alien that one finds in foreign supermarkets. I am fascinated by “products” and the general cynicism that meets their glossy intentions.
In comparison to the bombardment of visual data seen in both sculptural and drawn works, I find the medium of popular song to be a wonderful way of portraying a more direct, concise message. My music based performances are a collaborative project with my brother Dr James Mooney, going by the name of Twentymen. Our songs are largely centred around human failure, longing and loss. Song titles include 'Ikea Society', 'Waiting Room', 'EBay' and 'Funland Was no More'. Live performances are heavily influenced by the likes of Jaques Brel, Johnny Cash and Kirka.
Continuing the theme of collaboration, my film based projects are co-directed with Alasdair Brotherston. Working in both animation and live action, we choose to create warped, bizarre landscape where anything but the expected unfolds. Showing both a flair for searing colour ('Throw Me to the Rats', 'I go I go I go') and melancholy tones ('Bottom of the River'), ours is a creative force to be reckoned with.