Underlying all of my work is the approach to the painting or drawing as an entity in the world with its own reality rather than a window on the world. While inspired primarily by the essence of our geological and geographical world, the work takes on its own life in an attempt to create a sense of a dimension that is under the surface, that we do not overtly see but rather sense intuitively.
In the Andaluz series as well as the Feria series, the work captures a sense of the passing of time, heat and melody of Spain. The work brings about that sense of interweaving you see in that part of the world with the ancient world abutting the modern in the geology, the architecture and the culture. As well there is a subtle reference to the Moorish history and the Spanish role as a crossroad of eastern and western sensibilities.
In the Time Passages series, expressing and conveying a sense of the fourth dimension is the motivation for this work. While it is inspired by sense of place it is that fourth dimension of time and space that I try to capture by forcing the viewer to assimilate multiple images that connect to form a completed sense of the underlying character and essence of place. Through the concept of simultaneity the works capture the element of time.
Earlier works were influenced more by a romantic notion of the ephemeral in the landscape and are characterized by a more descriptive narrative of place. My latest work bounces between abstraction and naturalism to create a unique entity. Working with the notion of simultaneity is a new direction in the work whereby, rather than capturing a singular moment of time, elements are combined - colour, brushstroke composition - to create an object in this world with a pulse of its own. |
Winter Ready VI - 2000
oil on paper, 44 in x 30 in
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