Image 1 of 4
Image 2 of 4
Image 3 of 4
Image 4 of 4
About This Work
"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
— Samuel Beckett
This painting comes back to Samuel Beckett's famous quote, but this time focuses on a different part of the story than No Matter. While the previous work hides the words almost completely, (Ever Failed) No Matter has a bit more breathing space, and leaves the words NO MATTER clearly legible.
Although ‘fail better’ is often known as the key line of the quote, I've always been more interested in the part that comes before it. I think the hardest part about trying again is realising and accepting that the original failure isn't the end of the world. Before you can try again, you first have to dust yourself off and say, no matter…
I use same typographic system in this work, with the letters layered and overlapped to create a dense visual field. But this time the tones are cooler, like after the frustration has settled, when you stop beating yourself up and decide to try again.
Essentially, this painting is about letting go of the weight we attach to failure, and acknowledges our imperfect efforts.