An Exit with No Escape — The Anxious Landscapes of Roger Mortimer

In Roger Mortimer’s video work, a lone figure clad in black runs relentlessly across a terrain littered with manhole covers, seemingly propelled by an unseen force. His movements are erratic—rushing forward, circling aimlessly, changing direction—yet he persists in a futile flight. Presented in stark black and white, the imagery evokes a dreamlike atmosphere, but the viewer immediately senses a visceral rupture and inner agitation.

Distinct from Mortimer’s widely recognized paintings—rich in color and laden with religious symbolism—this video embodies a far more intimate, almost private, form of spiritual exodus. There is no explicit narrative; rather, the work offers potent physiological and psychological cues. The ubiquitous manhole covers, often associated with waste and excretion, become symbols of memory and shame. The man’s frenetic running suggests a desperate search not only for a literal outlet but also for a psychic vessel to contain emotional and existential pressure. Echoes of Kafka’s endless trials and David Lynch’s disquieting subconscious spaces are keenly felt throughout.

Here, Mortimer captures not merely physical anxiety, but a profound assertion of the artist's own condition: when every legitimate outlet is denied, one must forge a "provisional" release through art itself. The runner, in his endless circling, could easily be read as a surrogate for Mortimer—a figure striving to escape the burdens of reality, creative paralysis, and internal conflict.

Formally, Mortimer adopts a visual language reminiscent of early 3D video game aesthetics. Crude, disproportionate trees, awkwardly rendered landscapes, and stiff character animations enhance the absurdity and alienation of the scene, reinforcing its dreamlike weightlessness. This stylistic choice invites the viewer to question whether they are witnessing a real act of running or merely a psychological feedback loop endlessly replaying.

While perhaps not Mortimer’s most technically accomplished piece, this work stands as one of his most candid. It lays bare the artist not as an omnipotent creator but as a vulnerable vessel of anxiety. It is precisely through this embrace of “imperfection” that viewers are granted access to the most turbulent, chaotic recesses of his inner world.