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NOTES ON THE PAINTINGS
When a painter makes a painting they’re making both a window into another
world and, at the same time, an object which is a part of this world. Many
representational painters place less emphasis on the latter, whilst many
abstract painters use the physicality of the painting as an object as a
basis for their work.
My work falls somewhere between the two in that I am making windows into
another space but as someone who also makes sculpture, the physicality of
the object and its place in the enviroment is an important issue for me. The
degree to which these two criteria are met determines to some extent how
successfully the painting turns out.
The attraction of painting for me, as someone who also makes sculpture, is
freedom from the physical restraints of structure. Nothing has to
physically hold together (apart from staying on the surface of the
paper/canvas/panel used as a support). Illusion and reality. the painted and
the paint. can come together or go their separate ways. Illusionary objects
can rise above or sink into the surface, impasto paint and applied objects
can add a physical presence, marks can be buried to re-emerge later. Time,
history and change in this way become elements of the work and evidence is
revealed when layers are cut into or rubbed through revealing what lies
underneath.
Working in this way over the years I’ve built up a vocabulary of forms,
marks, devices, which interest me in that they have a resonance. That is,
they have a presence beyond their often simple appearance. Adjusting the
relationship between these elements/marks/forms/colours/textures, in other
words, by getting the composition to "work”, is the visual comparison to
using words in a language to read as a story, or tones and notes to sound as
music.
I’m constantly aiming for simplicity and clarity and this involves
eliminating all but the elements I consider essential for the painting to
work. Painting is an act of constant intuitive decision making; adding,
eliminating, adjusting, until there is nothing there unless it contributes
to the whole. When the work is done, it’s often the smallest of marks, the
tiniest change, which has brought it to its conclusion.
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