Burkes views the voice of painting as residing between music and written language. His images evolve from life drawings, striving for honesty in their direction. The titles of his paintings are intrinsically linked to the surface of the work, acting as question marks. His primary goal in image-making is to ask questions.
Burkes' paints what he knows, though what he knows differs from what he understands. He knows feeling but doesn’t understand it, finding this contradiction illuminating. False ground is self-sustaining. The struggle to articulate fuels his work. The movement of ideas, or something "having legs," engages him. It's an attempt to arrive somewhere, with the process holding meaning and significance. It's about maintaining rhythm and following intuition, listening rather than making noise. Burkes seeks to connect with the past, offering an ode to human existence. Memories are giants cast in stone, serving as a love letter to strength and the belief that tomorrow will be better.
Burkes has received several prestigious awards, including the Jonathan Vickers Fine Art Award, the Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Travel to Italy Award, the Falmouth School of Art Purchase Prize, and has been shortlisted for Bloomberg New Contemporaries.
