Take a moment, PLEASE.
what a pleasant surprise it is having you here with me now. please stay as long as you see fit, i want you to stay.
pee-bee sees you crying. Do not try and hide away your pain. wear it BARE upon your OPEN chest.
Beep-beep.
beep…
My most beloved pastimes are to paint and draw, but I also make noises and other visual creations. The goal of my work is to express truthfully, and to create things that hold innocence. I have always been lonely, and my creation emerged as a desperate attempt to remedy that isolation, and to feel understood. A small idea once grew; if those I love and cared for fail to understand the words I speak, maybe they would understand what I could make them feel. My grief seemed inexpressible, and that suffering created a cloak of isolation. My work was born to rip off this opaque covering and confront the things that I felt were best left unspoken. Looking at my work may feel similar to receiving a cry for help, but know that it is not one you are responsible for answering, it is the job of whatever I make. My art is my caretaker. I hope you can see how hard I am trying, that I am doing the best I can, and that I always have been.
Yours with honesty,
pee-bee
Vacillating between the inner and outer life, between meaning and questioning, using words and imagery, surface and depiction- Noah MacLeod's paintings are jam-packed. Or jamming in 'packed-ness' as if riffing on the nature of stuff. Created in a semblance of humanity, though bulbous, deformed and unusually specific, the subjects of these portraits seem to all be members of a symbiotic clan. Their expressions are not threatening, while in their individuality, they appear vulnerable, open and familiar. They defy understanding - not an easy read - and the imagery is not without attendant rudeness. It is just complicated. MacLeod has given written clues to thoughts, but he hasn't made deconstruction easy. The tininess of much of the leering speaks of care, and, hard to read, maintains an almost protective stance towards the sharing of the message. These formulations of humankind engender respect, not only due to MacLeod's craftsmanship and the dedication to detail but due also to their nonconformity, a personal expression of a unique, admirable mind
written by Julie Oakes, on the work of pee-bee 2022
