Figure No.11 Painting

This painting is part of a series inspired by illustrations in a book of historic costume patterns. I was drawn to these designs as they reduce the human figure to a series of measurements and cut out shapes. The human scale in each painting is important to me and the costume patterns enabled me to create hard edge abstract paintings rooted in representation of the figure. I am inspired by patterns such as historic floor tiles and mosaics because I see them as the human intervention into the landscape. The structure of my paintings is developed through geometric drawings and precise measurements, often using recurring elements found in pre-historic pottery or textile designs. I see these patterns as a universal language of circles, squares and triangles which form the building blocks of ever more complexity. I choose to paint in a square format to reinforce this link and aim to incorporate what I consider the human presence. This can take different forms such as fragments of figure drawings or man made objects and architectural features. In previous works I have used reflections, repeats, tiling and overlaying grids to generate compositions. Once the composition of the painting is drawn out it becomes the scaffold structure that the act of painting responds to. These boundaries are often lost during the early stages of a painting as the fluid, dripping paint is applied but they are re-drawn as each layer builds up. The final paint surface shows the effect of gravity over time with many unexpected rivulets and meanderings which show the history of the way the paint was applied. I see this as a process of chance and control where the unplanned aspects that occur during the act of painting interact with the pre-determined defined limits of the composition, including the edges of the canvas. When I paint I am conscious that the fundamental materials I’m using are ground earth and rocks. Applying them so they build up in layers reminds me of the process of sedimentation in the landscape. In a way the paint surface becomes a cave wall showing evidence of chance happenings over time which influence and react to the composition painted onto it. One series of paintings was inspired by the wall colours of neighbour’s properties along an entire street in a traditional Spanish town. The street was a vibrant mix of pinks, purples, blues and yellows with earthy terracottas and natural pigments. I was inspired by the seemingly random colour combinations at the boundaries of each property. That palette of colours is still inspiring new work. The contrast between the fluid areas and the dense flat areas of paint creates a shifting sense of foreground and background. The colour relationships are developed intuitively responding to the environment around me. I use black and white in a similar way to the structural elements of the painting. For me they act as the limiting factors and define the extreme range of the spectrum. Sienna, Umber and Ochre appear regularly and represent the earth, blues represent the sky and I use the colour of building materials such as brick, plaster and sand in response to the urban world around me. Juxtaposed with these colours are the intense red, orange, yellows and purples of flowers but they also refer to the modern manufactured colours that surround me. I often make many adjustments before reaching a point where each area of colour and texture is in the right balance of size, weight, intensity, warmth and coolness so that the viewer’s eye is continuously pulled forwards, backwards and around the surface. I consider a painting finished when a restless kind of harmony is created where each element jostles for prominence but is held in tension.

Painting:Acrylic on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:8.7 W x 8.7 H x 0 D in

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