David Harrison interview
Fairies, spookiness, sex and nature, sex in nature… David Harrison’s paintings are ripe with references to the natural world. He tells us about his new show ‘Flowers of Evil’ and his lifelong love of Wanstead Park. By Martin Coomer.
Where does the title ‘Flowers of Evil’ come from?
‘It comes from the book of poems by Baudelaire. He talks about the sense of things and I think he’s expressing sexual attraction, the way that, while some things are classed as not good for you, you enjoy them in a secret way. And it’s about the smell of nature and, I think, the smell of awareness. I’ve made a perfume. It’s got stuff from my garden, which I’ve been soaking, and also some essential oils in it. It’s called “Enchanter’s Nightshade”. I wanted that idea of walking into the woods. The first thing you smell is violet leaf, quite sweet, and then it dries down to an earthy scent. At this time of year the earth gives off a sweetness when the leaves rot. I’ve always been obsessed by smells.’
Did you grow up surrounded by nature?
‘I grew up right by Wanstead Flats. When we were kids we used to sneak over at night. It used to be quite spooky. There’s this wonderful ruin and I remember when we were about 13 or something, we got this boat – they just used to be tied up – and rowed out to it across the lake. All these bats exploded from beneath the ruin and flew around us, and then the owls started going: woo woo. It was so exciting but also scary in a proper gothic way. It’s still very magical’
That sounds like one of your paintings. Do you still go regularly to Wanstead?
‘These days I like to escape to Wanstead when I want to have some green. It’s the nearest place to central London where you’ll hear skylarks. They nest there. It’s really lovely if you come at dusk. You’ll also see starlings swarming. That used to be a regular sight in Leicester Square. There were millions of them but they electrified the trees to get rid of them.’
Wanstead’s hardly the countryside though, is it?
The thing about Wanstead is that, while it’s certainly a breathing space because there’s something ancient feeling about it and it gets wilder and wilder the further into it you go, it’s so close to London, it is London. You can see Docklands in the distance. I’ve made lots of paintings where the towers – the glass horrors – are marching towards you, invading the countryside.’
Aren’t tall buildings just a fact of life?
‘I think everything that’s being built now is for profit. It’s not about helping the people, or the nation, it’s about making big business happy. It’s like it’s not you’re world. You can’t go near it: alarms go off, cameras will pick you out, it’s like nothing’s trusted, everything is suspicious. It’s like Ancient Rome or something, or when the Normans invaded and built castles everywhere. It’s like the new invasion. I just wonder where the ghosts are going to live in the future, cos they’re not going to haunt all these glass places are they?’