'Escape from Reality'

When I was little, video games were the only thing I used as a means of escaping a reality . One which included a lot of bullying and stress from a school which never gave me the chance to ask for help. The word 'Escape' in this artwork represents a lot to me. It doesn't only make me think about my 'escape' through video games, but also of the time when I made this painting. This was at a stage in my life where I truly felt I had escaped reality - the 'reality' having been that school that I grew up in, and me having finally left it.

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The panels at each of the edges are extracts from the triptych painting 'the Garden of Earthly Delights' by Hieronymus Bosch. The top panel is an extract from the Heaven section, while the side panels are both from the Earth section, and the bottom panel is an extract from the bottommost part of the Hell section of the triptych. The four central panels are scenes from some of my favorite video games from when I was younger, including 'God of War 1 and 3', 'Shadow of the Colossus' and 'Ni No Kuni'. The cross-shaped structure with the 'Sony: Playstation' logo at its center, is meant to be indicative of a four sided compass. The meaning of this compass to me, is that no matter how negative or positive your situation is, that when you play video games, there is no wrong direction. 

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This work means a lot to me for a lot of reasons. One of the biggest being that this was where my mother Geeta Bubber taught me how to paint. I hadn't had any prior experience with using paint until I began this piece. My mother guided me through techniques of both illustrating and painting this canvas. 

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Medium - Acrylic on Canvas

Dimensions  -  5FT x 5FT

Time taken - 8 Months