Untitled Painting

I would describe my work as post-painterly abstraction; my work is concerned with the use of colour, form, space and line. I am interested in Tachisme, a style of painting adopted by some French artists from the 1940s, involving the use of dabs or splotches of colour, similar in aims to abstract expressionism. My work has also evolved from col- our field painting, which was heavily influenced by Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman. I often start quite informally using inks on paper. I allow them to flow freely across the page, and in the process, I create an accidental field of colour, where I then find shapes and forms. I often use acrylic and black ink on top of the coloured inks to define the shapes, this is an intuitive process. Sometimes I find more lines and shapes through the process of scraping off the thicker bits of acrylic. I primarily use inks as I find it flows better and allows colour to float in a watery atmosphere. I then draw on top of the shapes made, creating decorative patterns and forms. My work is very emotive, I try to arouse emotion in the viewer and create an atmospheric feel. Sam Francis, who used a similar approach to me, however used oil paints, and has influenced my work heavily. It has been said that the colours, forms and lines in his work embody intense human feeling, which is something I feel my work also does. He began painting as a form of therapy, and in some ways I also use painting as a form of therapy, to allow my emotions to get out, through the use of intense, powerful colours. It is a risky working method with no guarantees of success. My work is also influenced by William Baziotes whose interest in the medium of paint was combined with a variety of sources of imagery to produce works that evoke particular moods, or dream-like states. His most experimental canvases have an almost grid-like composition were influenced by early Cubism. I would say that my work is also influenced by Cubism. In the future I see my work continuing down this path, I plan to experiment further using on fabrics as a support. I think by doing this it will give my artwork a different feel again, it will make my work softer to look at.