Working with Eogan

11th June
Eogan is an artist.  He is also a person with special needs.  Once a week, we collaborated on a painting series.  The result is a diptych about his mother’s souvenirs.  And a gunman.  Three paintings but this is not a triptych.  I had asked Eogan to bring pictures to launch the project.  He came the first time with old photos of his mother on the platform of a train station and… James Bond.

I wondered how to work with him.  My scruples concerned the respect for his work, how to exchange ideas without me imposing my vision on him.

I was concerned that he would agree with how all the work was done and be involved in every stage of the process.  He himself brought e response to the issue in the very first session.  I had prepared a canvas the day before.  This canvas was not foreseen for the collaboration.  This was for me only.  I left the space to get coffee and when I returned with drinks Eogan had partially covered this canvas with white paint and began a drawing on it.  This was good.  I realised that I didn’t need to worry so much about this issue of respect.  We simply had to do what seemed to us to suit to complete the painting.  I have therefore also covered certain parts of his work.  I would say that we practised a form of palimpsest to the improbable result.