'The Gambler'

New Steven Lawler painting

the gambler • oil • 90cm x 120cm

"'The Gambler' is about the nature of reality and the choices that are either placed before us in life or alternatively that appear randomly and without meaning depending on what we choose to believe – hence the gamble aspect of the title. It contains an angel – a traditional symbol for good - and a goat that symbolizes evil. If we make a particular choice for instance are we heading for some kind of eternal damnation? Or eternal salvation? Or doesn't it matter because when you're dead you're dead and all of the moral rules placed around us are nothing other than man made constructions designed to maintain order in civilization and supress primitive urges?

The watch signifies the transience of time and the fact that it is an abstract concept designed to mark existence as man experiences it – from past to present to future . The curtain emphasizes theatricality and that the world is an illusion – as in the veil that separates this world from the other. The bell is an awakening – it summons people to worship and marks special events. Bells supposedly have some sort of connection with the Otherworld. I've also heard of people ringing bells to ritually cleanse an area. The cards have an ankh symbol on the back which symbolises eternal life – and cards are used in gambling of course. The notepad has the mathematical and algebraic formulas for the golden ratio written on it. The golden ratio is also known as the divine proportion or Phi. Throughout history, thinkers from mathematicians to theologians have pondered the mysterious relationship between numbers and the nature of reality. The number at the heart of that mystery: phi, or 1.6180339887 and magical properties had been attributed to it. It has shown a propensity to appear in an astonishing variety of places, from mollusc shells, sunflower florets, and rose petals to the shape of the galaxy." Steven Lawler

To view this and some of Steven's other work please click here.