The Riots

'The Riots' (diptych)
16 x 36"
acrylic on canvas,
by Nicki MacRae.

Of course in the UK it's been impossible to escape the news of the riots in London and other UK cities over the last week or so. My old home of Bristol was also involved in it's share of looting and violence. Even cocooned up here in a sleepy, rural, sparsely populated corner of the UK it's been on the minds of everyone you meet.

I don't tend, on the whole, to operate as much of a political creature - that's nothing to do with apathy, or disinterest, or any feeling of disconnection with politics (I vote, I take an interest in the news and follow as best I can the affairs of state, but I don't tend to holler my views about so very often). It has everything to do with the fact that I rarely see a distinct line to be drawn in any political argument. I see too much that politics is an unavoidable blurring of lines, concocting of compromises, and a constant attempt to make the best decisions for the biggest majority of people (or so it should be). I see a constant stream of grey areas and balancing acts. Very few issues seem to be clear cut and crystal, so I find it very hard to say 'yes, this is *right*'.

It's been interesting to read and hear debate in the aftermath of the disturbances, but one thing I have heard a lot of is a drawing of lines. Use of the word 'they' and assumptions made (on both 'sides' - although I hesitate to use that word).

Don't get me wrong, I don't condone for one second the violence, theft and senseless destruction of the past few days. I also feel deeply for everyone who's found themselves caught up in it all , and those who've lost life and their families. It's all so very sad.

I think there is a deep danger though in 'them' and 'us'.

The way I see it, at the end of the day we're all humans, we're all made of the same basic things. We each have our own unique traits and talents, but we are all for the most part 'blank' people, each thrown into a mixer of variables - childhood experiences, home life, taught values, levels of self esteem, discipline, opportunities, education, moral grounding, cultural specifics, role models, suggested aspirations, lucky breaks - and come out the other end into the turbulence of youth moulded by our upbringing and those around us. We're all capable of making 'good' and 'bad' decisions through our lives, we're all capable of blame, and making excuses. We're all capable of doing wrong, and we all have the ability to decide to make good choices. There for the grace, go I.


I feel strongly it's possible to denounce the actions of another without resorting to thinking you know everything about them, or making sweeping statements. It should be possible to explain ones actions without having to find reasons to defend them or justify them. It OK to admit that things are complex. It's bad to over simplify - even if that means we can't sum things up in neat ideas and catchy phrases.

I agree with denouncing criminals and criminal behaviour, but I don't agree with blaming certain age groups, ethnic groups, certain trades or professions, or those of a certain locality en masse. Things are rarely that clear cut.

As soon as we get into a place of 'them' and 'us' we draw up walls and draw lines of war, and then things get much harder to put right.


The painting started as an image in my mind that I just couldn't shake.

The two shapes and two different sized canvases are weighted to give an uneasy feeling of being slightly 'off kilter' whist still holding in common certain elements of their form.

The shapes represent the 'them' and 'us' of the discussions after the events - both seething with energy, and although different, basically made up of the same marks and colours.

The white space all around is the 'blank' of possibility - possibility to be whatever shape, colour, type of person - but also space not being used to spread into whilst we cling tightly in groups, and space which then forms a divide.

It was tempting to make the white quite literally a 'grey area' but I think that colour has too many negative connotations, and I wanted this to show possibility as well as division.