Rear View Mirror - an exhibition by Mark Crockett

”People find it difficult to let go of their pain.They prefer familiar suffering because they fear the unknown” –  Thich Nhat Hanh

This April, the Joanna Field Gallery at the Torch Theatre will be home to an exhibition called Rear View Mirror by artist Mark Crockett from Narberth, Pembrokeshire. It is a collection of paintings reflecting on the last few years since he became ill in 2021. The pieces often try to capture the first and last moments of light in the day, a point when things are simultaneously fading away and just beginning.

"I put down my paint brushes after a loud and pointless argument with a tutor at college and didn’t pick them up again for 35 years. During that time I picked hops, played records with Carl Cox and breathed fire over dancing crowds from the top of bass bins. I learned to surf, build houses and moved to the mountains of Portugal. I rediscovered photography (I hadn’t fought with my photography tutor) and went to a lot of weddings.

Then I got sick. Auto immune sick. Can’t walk some days sick. Then I picked up my paint brushes (new ones obviously) and the paintings started to fall out.

I now live in Wales with my amazing wife in an old Post Office."

The Gallery is open from 11am - 8pm Tues-Sun throughout April.