For my final pieces, I painted doorways where homeless people might shelter, stop to beg or spend the night. Homeless people shun depiction so I used their belongings and traces of their presence to indicate their occupancy. Gradually I removed these elements and painted doorways of empty premises or of shops that betray traces of past lives. These became emblematic of the transience of modern businesses, either because they moved on or because the business failed. This expanded my concern for the transience of homeless individuals to the uncertainty of the whole community in the face of change and adversity such as the recent pandemic.
Barney’s I, II and III are part of a Triptych - Moved On - Barney’s. Other paintings are studies that explore the theme. Barney’s was a clothing retailer occupying this building in Mill Road, Cambridge. After closing some years ago other retailers took over. Recent occupants, Vanderlyle, serving superb vegetarian food, stripped back the fascia to reveal the trace of the old logo. Rough sleepers often stop here to sit, sleep or beg and their uncertain and precarious life is echoed in the continuing trace of a life that has gone suggesting the transiency of occupancy.