‘Julian Schnabel’s ‘ The Raft’ Oil, plates, bondo, & branch on wood - 1982….  Ive only ever seen in a book, took me on a journey when at the age of eighteen I lashed myself to its mast and drifted off into an ocean physical and mental self discovery. The plates stuck to the support with a rudimentary ‘bondo’ glue, then laquered with layers of oil reminded me of the sediment at the bottom of the sea. This raft was never going to float, yet the lightness of the painted image on such a heavy ground gave it a chance to rise above its own detritus. The heroic figure is the tortured Christ?Yes… but its also a self portrait of the artist literally at sea in a world full of broken objects and filth’.

You can see Howard Dykes work here… http://howarddyke.com and here… Saachi Gallery