Phil Cooper / Painting Chimera #9

Phil Cooper, The Shovelisk, 40cm x 40cm, acrylic on paper

“A new noise assailed their ears, the piercing wail of sirens. The chamber lit up with an array of revolving lights, as out of the tunnels appeared dinosaur-like creatures with yellow skin, and massive jaws supported on long necks. Their eyes were as large and bright as headlamps and instead of legs, they propelled themselves forwards on one black rubbery foot. The yellow monsters began to scale the rubbish heap, taking great scoops of debris into their mouths. The heap quaked violently.”

Chimera Book 1 / Chapter 13 – The Plummet Pit

“I moved to Berlin a couple of years ago and one of the things Berlin is very good for is second-hand bookshops. My favourite one is just up the road from where we live and one of my recent purchases is a book about the British artist Graham Sutherland. During the second world war Sutherland was an official war artist and some of the images he made from this period were included in the book. They really chimed with ideas that were springing to mind whilst I re-read Chapter 13 of Chimera last week; dark pits and claustrophobic tunnels, grinding machinery throwing up sparks, and a glowing, molten-hot colour palette. Kyp finds himself in a nightmarish place in this chapter, it seems to be a case of ‘out of the frying pan into the fire’!”

Phil Cooper, December, 2020