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Edward Wright

a contradiction between the superficiality of appearances and the complexity
of the emotions that underlie any
political engagements

The work is an investigation into how people relate to one another and themselves, and what effect the political landscape has upon our emotional and psychological well-being.

Western ideals of citizenship and the family play an integral role in defining the action articulated in any given painting. Assumptions of common ground, or community, are questioned by these paintings in so much as agreement (agreeableness) is undermined by an undercurrent of malcontent.

This is an attempt to manifest a contradiction between the superficiality of appearances and the complexity of the emotions that underlie any political engagements, our relationships with one another, as well as any deep engagement with a work of art.

The differences between portrait photography and snapshots, and between photographic mementos of family life and oil paintings,
are invoked in recent work to analyze the importance of emotional engagements
to public life.