Once upon a time humans lived here. There are things they left behind.

Georgio De Chirico’s paintings often showed a heightened level of sensitivity, with narratives that were ‘outside’ the artwork. Sometimes they referred to the past or the future or just the power of an object. Despite painting just a shadow or empty space there was a special level of humanity in his work; memories.

In Stephen’s paintings the bag, and its shadow, represents a very human way of carrying things, we all seem to use them. A discarded bag appears in several of Stephen’s projects. Ultimately we leave things, sometimes through memories, as a type of evidence of ourselves.

A bigger question, about evidence, is what will we leave behind us on earth for future generations. Will it, and shouldn’t it, contribute to real long term well-being?