Graham Gingles has had a lifetime love affair with art . He has kept his practice going all the way through his teaching career and it was in his later years that he received the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Scholarship to Rome which helped him dip into the sacred city.

Taking time and space in the city which has inspired some masterpieces to contemplate around beatification or just what weight does the soul have?  Apart from a beautiful drawing technique he has carried an assemblage box theme throughout his practice.

“Gingles’ sculptural practice focuses on the construction of three-dimensional environments contained within vitrines or architectural boxes. Initially reminiscent of dolls’ houses, closer examination reveals tableaus that represent the artist’s meditations on love, conflict and death,“ says the blurb for his latest exhibition. 

The early boxes seem to try and compartmentalise some of the horror of what was going on in the seventies. Optical illusions abound in the boxed wall pieces, human characters, curtains, secret drawers. Moulds of teeth. Initially he put the sculptural pieces in boxes to protect them, then he liked their otherworldliness and the separateness it helped them form.  

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The beautifully-made boxes speak of a specialisation with wood and secrets. A white-faced clown and the memory of being a scared boy going to the circus appears, as do miniature self portrait drawings and quiet contemplations.

Over time the technique changes, plaster casting of various body parts and dreamlike bits and pieces, memories of dark wooded furniture, vanity cases and for the series made from the experience in Rome, some pieces which echo triptych alter pieces.  

There is a maquette from his MAC commission for the First World War commeration which will be of interest to anyone curious as to how some artists scale up their ideas.

The man who hated flags has no emblems on the flags; they are simply rusting away. The boy who loved flags made in 1991 perhaps echoes our love-hate relationships with flags generally or the trauma or fear they can evoke, particularly at different times of the year. 

Gingles black humour is also noticeable in the juxtaposition of pieces and each box no matter if it’s made from a suitcase or carefully planed wood demands that the viewer takes time to view them to see what secrets emerge, both from your mind and in reality. He also talks of the conceit of the dead “because the dead seem to control our destiny’s in Northern Ireland to an alarming degree”.

The plan is to tour the exhibition which I hopes happen. There is so much talent locally that does not often get the opportunity to be viewed elsewhere.

Graham Gingles The theatre of secrets runs at the FE McWilliam Gallery, Banbridge, until February 19th.

A reminder also that the 4 Corners Festival continues this week and Thursday 3 February is late night art so all the galleries will be open late in the city and most of the exhibitions change to refresh our minds and experiences.