"Contemplation" Painting

Alec Cumming draws inspiration from a global map of experiences, shaped significantly by several years spent working in India and his ongoing explorations of places like California and Sri Lanka. His work, primarily oil on canvas, presents abstract and semi-recognisable imagery that dances across the surface. He aims to create vibrant, playful, and pleasurable experiences that explore how fleeting moments in the physical world translate into paint.

He is particularly driven by a desire to explore how light in these locations defines a composition. He’s drawn to that bright, harsh light that makes colours pop and resonate, or the soft, shimmering haze of a hot afternoon. He wants his paintings to carry that same resonance. This way of painting allows Alec the immense pleasure of observing the world and translating its energy onto a surface.

Recently, he finds himself reflecting on the staggeringly different visual stimuli of his continued travels and how they intersect with his current surroundings. He builds a "bank" of imagery through drawings, photographs, and sketchbook entries, constantly questioning how these disparate influences can merge into a "pan-global" vocabulary. For Alec, the canvas is a space for a back and forth, between memories and moments—some that existed, and some that are born in the studio.

Within his paintings, there are shapes and forms that suggest a narrative without strictly defining it. He loves how these semi-recognisable elements allow different scenarios to play out for the viewer, depending on how they decipher the "things" he’s laid down.

His work might suggest a specific fabric, the architecture of a city street, a glimpse of a poolside afternoon, or a table laden with drinks and paraphernalia. These are the everyday moments we engage in when we are at our most calm. Ultimately, he is fascinated by that curious thing the brain does when the eye lingers, focusing on a single point of reference that, whether consciously or subconsciously, brings a sense of satisfaction.