I moved to the Republic of Korea in 2010, and since 2016 have lived near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), not far from Panmunjeom, where on April 26th 2018 Kim Jong-un became the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953. Near our house there are several ROK army barracks, so we often see young Korean men doing their mandatory two years' military service, and hear them training with their weapons. From the roof of our house we can clearly see the mountains of the DPRK on the other side of the DMZ. At night, a single bright light used to come on near the peak of one particular mountain. Recently, another light has joined it nearby. But in fact, nothing much happens here. A weird atmosphere of suspended time prevails, and it is a very peaceful and beautiful place.

The PARALLEL series are a direct consequence of living where I do, and in particular, of living where I do during the presidency of Donald Trump, who, in the autumn of 2017 threatened the DPRK with total destruction, and raised the likelihood of war on the peninsula to new heights. For the first time since I arrived in Korea, I felt afraid. I realized that I might soon die. These paintings are the outcome of my emotions during that worrying period, and I continued to make them during the thaw between the two Koreas after the historic meeting of April 26th, and the Trump/Kim Jong-un Summit in Singapore on June 12th, which - as of the time of writing (end of August) - seems unfortunately to have been little more than a farcical publicity stunt.