Mugshot Painting

Green paints directly onto raw, unstretched canvas, working instinctively, without preamble or pause for thought. His earliest work was observational and figurative, with a kind of meticulous precision, but, having demonstrated this precocious skill, he felt free to cast-off formal technique and to work in a more expressive way, characterised by loose, vivid unpredictability. The first impression is of gestural vitality and rich painterly effect – bright colours merge into murky smudges; sharp definition blurs into misty formlessness. There are sweeping lines; scribbly detail; indistinct colour washes; paint drips, flows or clumps into crusty accretions. Suggestions of formal structure are quickly subverted. Amidst this abstract maelstrom there are hints of crude calligraphy, figuration and human faces – ambiguous, half-formed, partially erased. “The last decade has been about dissecting the human form in a process that is energetic, spontaneous and organic. I now find it more powerful to capture the essence of a person rather than to render an exact image. The paintings I make today are one-offs that I couldn’t replicate. They are unique to specific moments, authentic to me. I don’t look for or seek inspiration; I live my colourful life and allow that to guide the path for my practice.”