Urban I Collage

I am a self-taught painter. One of my most powerful influences has been the minimalist works of Bernard Cathelin, a French impasto painter, popular for his depth of colour. Since seeing Cathelin's paintings, my work has expressed its own simplicity and effortlessness with colour. My style was also greatly influenced by Vincent Van Gogh, whom I consider to be a master of texture. There's a simplicity; an honesty about his work, that gives me the same sensation as with Cathelin. I have branched out over the last few years and have essentially developed my own technique to create a place in the world for my art. This signature style can best be described as mixed-media collage using chips of wood and metals, interlaid between chiselled, cut-up, and shaped pieces of dried oil paint. I first paint layer over layer of oil paint on a wooden board and can wait months or even years for the thick impasto to fully dry. Then I shape and cut the pieces, and arrange them together on an artist's panel, creating the collaged sculpture that has received enthusiastic response from the art communities in the Far East, USA, South Africa, and Canada. The pieces generally range from 4" x 4" to 5" x 7" and have been immensely popular. Currently I am experimenting with larger panels, while trying to retain the delicate interplay between colour and texture.