NEW THOUGHTS

SEARCHING FOR AN ANSWER TO UNKNOWN QUESTIONS

It's funny how something so simple can produce what appears to be such conflicting proposals but by default it is the only outcome to a naturally ambiguous quest that I have embarked upon.  What exactly am I attempting to do? Well, at the end of the day I am trying to produce imagery that is my response to my concerns at a particular moment in time but without that dreadful word, my "style." If there is one word that really gets my goat (?) It is hearing that expression used in the context - 'I am trying out a new style,' 'What style are you using?' - STYLE???????? Like it is a fashion accessory, something to change because, Blue, is the new Black! Style over Substance?

An Artist's raison d'être is to express an internal voice, their internal voice. It is this quest to expunge these concerns that creates their, “Style.” It is a naturally evolving phenomena that is a by product of a lifetime’s concerns. Lucien Freud, Rothko et al. produced what they did because they were searching, searching to express an answer to an internal concern. What we witness in each painting is just that, ‘at this point in time I am concerned with this’ and, ‘I am attempting to resolve these concerns’ whether that is about the form or the material itself.

Rant over.

Anyway, here is some new work that has caused me many moments of self doubt and continue to do so.

    So, what are my concerns in these latest pieces? Cells, Shadows, Divisions and Chance.

The reality is that there are a multitude of elements whirling around in the vortex of my mind, a continuous mishmash that is in a constant state of flux - one minute this, the next minute, that. For example, the painting below, 'Opposing Emergence' started out with a concern about the shadow and subsequent light cast onto the wall by the pots and pans hanging up in the kitchen. 

Opposing Emergence                                                                   3ft x 2ft

As the painting developed it began to suggest the direction it needed to take, the shadow was the catalyst but as the paint went on and thoughts were processed the concerns changed. In the end it became about the tension created by two forces and by default the line they created. 

The next image, 'Creationist Conjecture Nø 0' is the result of a random act and the division of space and a need for order, uncontrolled order - painting as an oxymoron?

Creationist Conjecture Nō 0                                                     3ft x 2ft

The next painting, 'Meus painting morbus procui quinquaginta' is taken from a fascination with medical slides and the wondrous images that they make and this is my translation.

Meus painting morbus procul quinquaginta                             3ft x 2ft

The last painting, ' Solstice' is as a direct consequence of the light hitting the canvas on the studio floor whilst it was drying out after being sized and it dictated the first move.

                    Solstice                                                                                                4ft x 4ft

"It was not what we found but the journey itself"  anon