David Patrick makes paintings, altered books, boxes, collages and drawings. He likes the empirical adventure of making, finding it a satisfying and rewarding thing to lose yourself in. At his best he makes handmade objects of ideas, consideration, and emotional expression. He is interested in pursuing the qualities of materials, strong colour, graphic observation and composition.

See David’s work as part of our annual autumn open call exhibition, Future/Past, featuring a sublime collection of works by twenty six artists inspired by ancestral echoes and future visions; pieces that dismantle tradition, reimagine narratives, and linger in the margins of the radical, the oneiric, and the everyday.

Thanks for being with us, David. Can you elaborate on the significance or symbolism of the chosen title of your work?
Beak and Harbour are the names of two places in London I spent time in the mid 80s that echo maybe the social dynamics in the painting i.e going out, getting in to parties/openings, meeting new, different types of people in different more adult spaces.

Finishing the picture came about in February 2023 after Christmas spent watching this very 1970s aesthetic German TV series, World on a Wire, I found on Youtube. Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder set in the near future featuring a lot of his style and stock players.

Originally the picture was going to be a woman and a man in the background/distance and almost 1960s looking in its spacing and tension. Inspired by the feel of the film, I made them both more female and both upfront, maybe at a party or an adventurous social space. Ultimately it’s up to the viewer as to when and where they are, and who they are.

I worked out how I wanted the faces using the drawing bit of the photo editor on my phone. I then turned the painting upside down and did them mostly that way up. It’s a technique I sometimes use. It circumvents mannerism and stops you worrying what it looks like as you are making it. It doesn’t always work but it can be very useful way to get on with things and stop fussing. As importantly, the marks you make have a different direction and feel.

It was still the early days of me using brushes and paint making this. The purple figure is still mainly like a drawing, the blue on red one a bit more what that brush can do. Working with such thin bright layers and strong colours there’s not a lot of room for error. You’ve got two possibly three attempts at getting things right before the surface gets permanently changed and you have to rethink things completely.

Underneath the splashy colour and the cinema frame TV drama feel, I was trying to express a kind of snapshot of behavioural linguistics or social archetypes. One open, adventurous, maybe even vulnerable but also with a lot of control. The other masking, mirroring, awkward glances and sideways conversations. I can put myself out there but I’m definitely in the latter category.

I had a lot of trouble naming the painting. I was trying to crowbar in fancy words like linguistics and psychological terms like masking and mirroring but it was all a bit naff. I then hit upon Mirror Mask which I thought was perfect, a nod to Fassbinder, and sounded like an 80s or 90s After Hours type film you might of come across in Global Video or now Netflix. Then I found out there was already a film called that! A fantasy film with Jim Henson puppets. I didn’t want to have to keep explaining to people it wasn’t related, so that hit the bin as well.

Beak Harbour Interior is so oblique and static sounding it’s almost funny, yet it could be the title of 1940s crime noir novel or chapter title. In a way it gives the picture a bit of slow release intrigue if you want it.

Connect with David on Instagram. Future/Past runs at Six Foot Gallery until Tuesday 14th October.