The Solitary Paradise of Stuart Buchanan
By Isabelle Holloway
Stuart Buchanan, Homeward Bound. Green Gallery. Oil, 17 x 18.5 inches.
There are a great many tales in the English literary canon which center around a “Homeward Bound” journey—a motif that can be found in the Cyclops-laden course undertaken by Odysseus following the Trojan War, the red (arguably silver) slippers which transport Dorothy from the fantastical Oz to her familiar Kansas, and Frodo’s triumphant departure from the Eye of Sauron and all its shaded evils.
In his piece Homeward Bound, modernist Stuart Buchanan invites viewers to participate in this same motif of a journey now-complete; of trials discarded for Past’s ill memory, and of opportunities fit for Future’s hopeful entreaty. A small, vague figure and their dog consume the central focus of the image, belittled in size by the wintry-toned, shadow-casting tree trunks which loom behind them, and all the same embraced by the halo of a warm, immaterial, and hushed light which lives beyond them.
The remainder of Buchanan’s artistic portfolio largely, and effectively, allows the viewer to delight in this “Homeward Bound” journey. Buchanan particularly constructs this mutual experience in the imagery of sailboats, isolated objects, and moonlight.
The boats in Into the Blue, Sail Away with Me, and Frozen Giants each make conspicuous use of monochromaticity in order to visually vivify the isolated self, or in Frozen Giants, the isolated pair, in the frame. A sensation of unrushed stillness permeates this set of images, as the figures appear to conduct their nautical voyage in an air of tranquility along calm waters. The boats, themselves, contain the element of being “Homeward Bound” in their mere utilitarian application as modes of transportation, symbolically satisfying Buchanan’s journeying essence.
Stuart Buchanan, Into the Blue. Bath Art Gallery. Oil, 18 x 16 inches.
Stuart Buchanan, Sail away with Me. Bath Art Gallery. Oil, 14 x 12 inches.
Stuart Buchanan, Frozen Giants. Bath Art Gallery. Oil, 12 x 16 inches.
Moonlight asserts itself powerfully through the landscapes of which the figures in Hunter’s Moon, Moonlight, and Blood Moon venture. From a practical standpoint, the moon acts as a beacon of light which illuminates the unknown terrain of its subjects; yet, the moon’s omnipresence also alludes to a metaphysical and metaphorical role—one which grounds figures, in a symbolic expression of Nature’s spiritual grandness, into a more defined sense of course through which they can travel in order to fulfill their personal destiny and highest potential.
Stuart Buchanan, Hunter’s Moon. Bath Art Gallery. Oil, 13 x 12 inches.
Stuart Buchanan, Moonlight. Bath Art Gallery. Oil, 14 x 12 inches.
Stuart Buchanan, Blood Moon. Bath Art Gallery. Oil, 14 x 12 inches.
An intellectual pursuit of curiosity and wonder is expressed in Blue Whale, South Pole, and Standing Stone as the figures gaze upon the imposing structures of a blue whale’s skeletal suspension, a flagged pole, and a “standing” stone. The impressive nature of these objects is fully conveyed by the grandness of their scale as they are juxtaposed with smaller individuals. Yet, Buchanan masterfully conveys the innate grandness of these inanimate objects in a sense that is welcoming, rather than overwhelming. The objects retain an impermanent effect, fading to a degree into the lighter recesses of the canvas so as to not be wholly striking or reveal blatant enormity. A peaceful communion between History’s material world and the elevation of the individual’s mind is enacted.
Stuart Buchanan, Blue Whale. Bath Art Gallery. Oil, 14 x 24 inches.
Stuart Buchanan, South Pole. Scotland Art Galleries. Oil, 46 x 51 centimetres.
Stuart Buchanan, Standing Stone. Bath Art Gallery. Oil, 11 x 10 inches.
Certainly these paintings, or rather moments, allude to a common thread: solitude. This common thread is significant; often, the bridge between solitude and loneliness in society is one which is debated, whether in mutual exclusivity or in sameness. From the forefront, solitude and loneliness manifest in visual uniformity—one of isolated smallness and general partition from the greater movements of the world. This initial impression of uniformity, before further analysis, has inflicted solitude with the shades of taboo, as it has become effectually tainted with the terror of loneliness.
Yet, Buchanan argues for the less asserted notion of exclusivity, departing from fearful loneliness and entering into blissful solitude. Rather than present these quiet moments on a stage of angst and inner turmoil, as is associated with loneliness, he offers a meditative palette for viewers to light-heartedly linger upon. Buchanan’s art rouses a daydream-scape of vague nostalgia and reminiscence, as opposed to an uncannier déjà vu for the simpler, slower traditions of life. His art may be analogized to a Rorschach test in that his pieces, in their quasi-abstracted form, are meant to recall subjectively personal memories and sentiments, whether from childhood or the daily routine, and however fleeting or profound. Landscapes, for instance, can be versatile and fluid: a ship may sail against a backdrop of deep blue interpreted to be the sea, as most logic would reason, an expanse of celestial space, or the bedroom wall of one’s childhood room. Similarly, the nondescript, dainty brushstroke beside a figure in a wooded scene can collectively assume the form of the cooking spatula of one’s mother, a soldier’s gun as reminded by a war close to home, or the self bearing a bouquet of fresh flowers. All of these examples, whether more innately painful or cheerful, gather both the painted subject and the real-life witness into a stiller space for solitary contemplation where new strands of thought and connection can be brewed. Individuals, in other words, can escape the default of their own life’s white noise and venture into a more serene zone for thought where they can ameliorate themselves into a higher, transcendent sphere of self-reflection and solitude.
Stuart Buchanan, Roost. Scotland Art Galleries. Oil, 77 x 52 centimetres.
The beginning verses of Lord Byron’s There is Pleasure in the Pathless Woods gracefully encapsulate solitude as Buchanan paints it:
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more
Stuart Buchanan, By the North Sea. Bath Art Gallery. Oil, 17 x 19 inches.
Of course, the intrinsic meaning of solitude is not meant to detach or dehumanize the individual from their society; in fact, as seen in several of Buchanan’s works, solitude can be a shared pursuit in which a pair may “comfortably share silence”—from the oft-quoted scene of Pulp Fiction’s Mia Wallace. Rather, solitude indulges the individual in moments of honest reflection which, when harmonized into balance, complement humanistic purposes with new buddings of wisdom and inner repose. Buchanan argues that taking quiet pauses during the routine motions of Life, as before the wavering beams of a moon-lit sea or the blue whale’s skeletal suspension in a museum, roots individuals to a clearer vision of their destiny and creates gentle moments of perfect joy—moments which materialize into a solitary paradise toward which one can become “Homeward Bound”.
Bibliography
“Stuart Buchanan Artist, Paintings and Art at the Red Rag Modern Art Gallery.” www.bathartgallery.co.uk, www.bathartgallery.co.uk/artist-stuart-buchanan.asp. Accessed 13 Dec. 2022.
Green Gallery. “Homeward Bound.” Green Gallery,
greengallery.com/product/homeward-bound/. Accessed 13 Dec. 2022.
Poets, Academy of American. “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage [There Is a Pleasure in the Pathless Woods] by George Gordon Byron - Poems | Academy of American Poets.” Poets.org, poets.org/poem/childe-harolds-pilgrimage-there-pleasure-pathless-woods.
“Stuart Buchanan | Scottish Artist.” Scotlandart.com, scotlandart.com/Artist/Detail/687. Accessed 13 Dec. 2022.