Why Noah’s Ark? - Kevin Oxley

The Noah series of paintings came about from my wife Kim and I both struck by cancer. Two very different forms, but life threatening and traumatic. Particularly when we have a ten year old daughter. Kim is two years in remission after breast surgery, chemo and radiation, and I had surgery to remove two metastasized secondary cancers on my liver, which resulted in removing about 20% of my liver. Now there is an ongoing search via regular CAT scans to find the primary cancer lurking somewhere in my pancreas.

If art is supposed to reflect life and the “human condition” I thought about trying to ‘exorcise’ the cancer from my system through my art work – if not permanently, for at least some prolonged period of time beyond what the prognosis indicated (8-10 months). Every day now is a bonus which I use to express this whole experience, but with optimism. My inner spirit has become focused on survival. The primitive “warrior within” has come to the fore. My CAT scan images and ultrasounds showed remarkable similarity between the liver and stylized images I had seen in children’s books on the Noah story. The actual biblical dimensions of 500 x 50 x 30 cubits high make for a more elongated shape. “Artists’ licence” opted for the more familiar proportion I have used in my paintings and drawings.

Perhaps the urge to write one’s life story stems from some innate “Noah syndrome” – to bring together our memories and thoughts. Museums, art galleries, private collections of any kind could be seen as variations of the same phenomenon i.e. there’s a little bit of Noah in all of us.

Since I began painting my Noah series, friends keep finding examples of the Noah theme popping up world-wide. Over the past few years, Holland and California have created tourist destinations with replicas of Noah’s Ark.

Perhaps the whole world feels some impending catastrophe looming on the horizon. On a personal level, this series of work has provided a ‘healing’ period, giving me motivation and energy to carry on. The optimism shown in the work will hopefully inspire others to find their inner warrior and fight on. The images of people in my paintings are wearing masks. This is to signify that this can happen to anyone.