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Mark Sheeky is a man of many talents, often unearthing enchanting and mysterious elements in his artwork, game design, writing and music.
Based in Cheshire, he has also been involved in Manchester and Greater Manchester affiliated projects, especially considering the proximity of The Manchester Metropolitan University Cheshire Campus in Crewe.
From childhood, Mark has been a keen computer game designer, working on a number of mysterious and adventurous games. But his eclectic creativity – taking in the likes of composing, poetry, recording, drawing, designing and much more – seems evocative of the societal polymaths of previous centuries; people dedicated to exploration across a range of artistry.
He is often most-known for his painting, which is quite remarkable in itself, considering he only started as a hobbyist in 2004.
Mark’s paintings often have a dark, brooding quality, with weighty weather imagery and intense shades of grey and black. A key example is his 2008 painting "Two Roman Legionaries Discovering The God-King Albion Turned Into Stone", which he donated to the Grosvenor Museum collection in 2008.
In 2012, his work "The Paranoid Schizophrenia of Richard Dadd”, also won the Grosvenor Art competition. Mark is not only the winner of multiple selected awards, but has held 12 Solo Exhibitions and been part of over 40 National Juried Exhibitions, including ‘One Love’ at The Lowry.
In 2018, he contributed a trio of works to an exhibition ‘Poetry, Dyslexia and Imagination’ being held at Crewe Lifestyle Centre (4th to 11th August 2018) as part of Manchester Metropolitan University MA Creative Writing student Helen Kay’s research. These pieces were called "Held Back", "Twice as Hard" and "Missing the Point" or the "Holofernes Triptych".
As suggested by the titles of some of his works, Mark’s art does not shy from exploring themes of darkness, mystery and the mind. This extends to his work as a musician.
Not only is Mark a recording artist in his own right, but he also performs as part of the spoken-word music duo Fall in Green with wordsmith Deborah Edgeley – of Ink Pantry publishing. Their upcoming album ‘Testing The Delicates’ (named after Deborah’s own collection of poetry) is due in late 2018. They also recently released a single called Who is Afraid-She Floats, which is based on the suicides of Virginia Woolf and Ophelia from Hamlet, again taken from Deborah’s poetry collection – along with a Gothic-inspired and dark video.
As part of his Fall in Green performance, Mark dons historical dress to assume the guise of Fallon Fall, highlighting a man who is evidently invested in his art. He also describes the Gothic with high praise as “awe made corporeal” and he often uses his clothing and demeanour to create mood on the occasion of performance.
There are a number of events coming up too. One example is a solo art show at Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery in September, involving collaborations with Northwest poets. HAUNT Manchester spoke to Mark following his paintings being incorporated in the MMU associated exhibition in Crewe, to find out more...
Hello Mark! Thank you for talking to HAUNT. Can you please tell us about your eclectic creativity and why you have been keen to get involved in so many areas?
“There are many reasons for this. Firstly, I began as a solo computer game developer and this requires many skills. A game needs programming and maths, graphics and artwork including 3D skills, sound effects, music, as well as marketing, and sometimes video production and writing. Making games single handed is excellent training for creativity in all sorts of areas, partly because it’s so very difficult. Most of my games weren't particularly good at all, but they were excellent training for the mind.
“Secondly, I like to push myself and enjoy trying what is new, so naturally this means trying lots of different things. After games I started painting and drawing, writing poetry. The music continued from the game development period and so began in the style of game themes and early electronic music, but over time this transformed totally to become more classical and emotion based. My musical output is very wide ranging; but I will always reject what is easy and what is automated and digital. The new artistic battles will be between humanity and the electronic machine.
“Finally, the best artists are masters of all media; this is part of my core philosophy. I have a personal desire to be the best I can in every area that I am able.”
Your artwork - for example the incredible “Two Roman Legionaries Discovering the God-King Albion Turned into Stone” - often incorporates dark shades/brooding clouds. Do you feel inclined to exploring darkness in your art and why is approaching darkness in art important?
“Art is all about emotional impact so a collision of dark and light is essential. The most dramatic moods are the most beautiful, so yes, I love storms. Perhaps this is the essence of the Romantic, and I can see the appeal of Romantic composers like Mendelssohn (I'd count Rachmaninoff too) and painters like Caspar Friedrich, but sometimes this can be twee and unreal. Truth is vital, true feelings! Art is a battle, that reflects life, which is also a battle. Nothing good comes easily, so everything must be worked at and it's the conflict between great forces that creates the best things. Perhaps storms then are not dark, but merely evidence of this strife.”
Can you tell us about some of your creative influences?
“So many. Now, in true style of my battling personality my hero is Beethoven, bless his deafness and our disabilities! It is only by lacking that we have a wall to smash against. It is often true that freedom and no barriers result in nothing, so we must be aware of each flaw and difficulty as assets. I'm also a fan of Ingmar Bergman, a keen observer of relationships and the human condition.
“My musical and technical influences when I began were Catholic hymns (Christianity: a damaging anti-civilising system) and computer game music from the Commodore 64. Things have changed considerably since. From the age of 17 to about 34 I lived in almost complete silence and seclusion. Art changed that, and my personality at switched overnight on the 25th of September 2008 into a social one; the personality of my ancient childhood, versus that of the technologist and programmer.
“I knew nothing about painting when I began, as a hobbyist in 2004. Perhaps I had not visited a gallery before then, but I've learned much since. People compare my work to Salvador Dali's all of the time, but the way I paint was simply how I painted from the start, because I wanted to paint ideas and complex feelings rather than mere pictures of things. My opinions about Dali as an artist have varied, at his worst he painted bizarre and meaningless nonsense that said nothing about the world or the human condition. Yet after I learned more, I could see that he remained absolutely true to his own personality, to the point of self-destruction, painting his unique vision in opposition to society, which is both brave and perhaps the essence of a true artist; certainly for a solipsist. For me, I think it's important that others can feel and understand the message an artist conveys.
“I admire many painters, but there has been no Mozart or Beethoven of visual art, yet.”
How would you say the Gothic has influenced your work?
"In my love of the dramatic and the Romantic, and in fashion; I have a long gold coat which I wear to art occasions and when presenting my YouTube show. I have a crown, for example, which has an excellent cooling effect when playing the piano in a cathedral. Gothic is also perhaps my favourite architectural style, it strives to reach to an infinite height, like the imagination and dreams. It is awe made corporeal.”
You are also a musician and set up the label Cornutopia Music in 2000. Is there something in particular that music allows you to explore that physical art does not?
“Music can instantly convey a mood, and move us perhaps more deeply than any other art form. Unlike words however, for example, it can't convey complex narratives, and images are how the brain operates. There is no one best art-form, but I love music and turn to it as a primary medium often. I couldn't imagine watching a film as many times as I've listened to some music.”
In your work with Fall in Green, you blend experimental spoken word with music? Why do you think this works and what was the motivation behind this?
“It occurred due to an evolutionary process. Somehow I started to collaborate with visual artist Sabine Kussmaul; she made videos and I played some music to go with this. Over time this evolved into a show of words, music and video and we created several short shows, for small art events and exhibition launches. This worked very well, and I as I got to know more poets (I go to the Nantwich Speakeasy group which is a great monthly meeting) I began to collaborate to combine poetry with music.
“The music can instantly set the mood and the poetry can convey images and other things, so it's an ideal combination. Of course, the most accessible art form on Earth is the song; a mix of words and music, yet the act of singing can make the words harder to hear and the tired and twee rules of rhyme in songs can obfuscate the meaning and emotion. I like progressive bands, like early Genesis or Rush, because the words are not so tightly tied to the music. With Fall in Green, we are trying to free them completely, but we are only just beginning; we've been going for less than a year.
“I continue to experiment with art performance of different sorts, and I co-curate a monthly performance night in Macclesfield with Sabine at a bar called Mash Guru. These are very relaxed, a bit like open-mic poetry nights. We have a small stage, some musical instruments, a projector, and other things, so we can do more complex things than mere poems and stories. We've done some really interesting things there. They are always on Tuesday evenings and free to attend. If anyone wants to come, follow me on Twitter and I'll post the announcement there (it will be among the million other random things I do).”
What are your connections to Manchester and Greater Manchester?
“My father comes from Manchester and went to art college there. I've exhibited in the Lowry twice with single pieces too.”
What are your plans for the future and how can people get involved/ see your work?
“Plans; to produce more and collaborate more, do more, and push at every boundary! I have a solo art show coming up in Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery in September https://www.facebook.com/events/455074374974648/, which involves lots of collaborations with Northwest poets, who are the finest in Britain.
“I also have two albums coming out this year (numbers 28 and 29): one of (curiously ordinary) songs called The Modern Game, and the first Fall in Green album which includes lots of complex sound arrangements. I also have a second book, Deep Dark Light, coming out which is a strange poetry/prose mix with a foreword by literary professor Dr. Kenneth Pobo. My first book of the year ‘21st Century Surrealism’ went on sale a few months ago.
“I'll also continue to produce ArtSwarm for YouTube every fortnight. That's an experimental video show that encourages artists to make a video on a certain theme. The main criteria is that it has to be new, ideally (and usually) made for the show. Here is the channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA9nkyW2ommzJCF0b2h8oNg/featured , if anyone would like to get involved. You can also find the ArtSwarm page on my wesbite www.marksheeky.com to see how to send me things for it.
“Those are the certainties for 2018. The year is still young and I have many other things I'd like to do, including a collaboration with other poets, including illustration work for Brooklyn-based poet Rus Khomutoff and as much as I can fit in. I need to find a gallery to show my work too, so if anyone knows an art gallery, please point them my way.
“Of course, I have 50 years more of art making at least, so I look forward to many fruitful partnerships and striving to make the world's best art. I'd love to learn to play Rachmaninoff's 3rd piano concerto, or compose something better. We must aim high.”
- By Emily Oldfield
