Martin Guinness

I am a contemporary abstract painter working within a lineage of lyrical abstraction. My practice explores perception, memory, and the natural world, favouring contemplation and emotional resonance over gestural immediacy or spectacle.
Working primarily in acrylics, I build layered, textured surfaces through a considered and intuitive process. Rather than relying on spontaneous action, each painting develops slowly, allowing forms, colours, and rhythms to emerge through sustained engagement with the surface. This approach reflects an interest in how meaning accumulates over time — through memory, attention, and lived experience.
My paintings are often informed by the natural world, not as representation but as felt experience: light, atmosphere, movement, and the subtle shifts that occur between inner and outer worlds. The work seeks to create spaces for quiet reflection, inviting viewers to slow down and engage with ambiguity, stillness, and emotional nuance.
While influenced by the emotional depth of post-war abstraction, my work departs from its more heroic gestures, instead embracing restraint, intimacy, and a meditative sensibility. Authenticity, material presence, and emotional clarity are central to my practice.
My mission i...

BA-PSY – Bachelor of Psychological Sciences – Swinburne University
GDPA – Graduate Diploma of Psychology Advanced – Monash University

2025 - Tap Gallery
- Incognito Exhibition
2026 - M2 Gallery
- Halls Lane Gallery