Painting Language as Thinking Space 

I am fascinated by painting language, but also visual and verbal language, advertising media and cinema. To attentively listen to someone speaking, the words and gestures, the body language and intonation, the repetitions and omissions, these all serve to indicate what kind of thinking is going on and this is important, because our thoughts deeply influence the kind of world we live in. In many ways we create our own reality. Our reality is as rich and stimulating as the objects and people we  surround ourselves with.

In my studio, I am surrounded by my work, I am immersed in paintings, prints, collages, sketchbooks and drawings, at various stages of completion and conversation. A long time ago I was told by an inspired teacher, to ‘listen to the paintings’, to try and turn my own biases off, to push my own ‘likes and dislikes’ to the background, so I could give as much attention as possible to the work of art, the object image, in front of me. To attentively look at and listen to what is visually and physically going on, as opposed to listening to the personal defaults and collective conditioning. Because a work of mine creates the opportunity to see and think differently, to imaginatively go somewhere you didn’t expect to. A playful respite or intriguing challenge to the daily grind.

In more straightforward terms everybody sees something different in my work. There is the play of the imaginative potential, as it ignites and expands in the mind’s eye of the viewer.  I construct each image to facilitate a multitude of interpretations for myself as much as anyone. I am not illustrating a single or specific agenda. All ambiguities are created through a combination of intention, painting language (its own unique qualities) and intuition. A lot of the time, I am painting from a point of rhythm and colour interaction, the sense (or non-sense) emerges and continues to grow as my I absorb more language and an increasing awareness of how my mind works.

For me, my practice as an artist, is both a challenge and an adventure. Most days in the studio I end up somewhere completely different from where I thought I would. The beauty of avoiding my own defaults, moving beyond my limitations. And that is the beauty of an engaging image, its ability to take the viewer somewhere else, even if it is only for a moment, as they see something which they hadn’t noticed before and then perhaps, the seeing creates a new thought or connection and the imaginative adventure unfolds.