"Who Are We Today? Who’s Driving? - We Know Who Is Driving" Painting

Simon Findlay is an abstract painter based in Berlin, Germany, working with acrylic and oil on large-scale canvases. His practice investigates: Colour - through layered transparent washes, with often rich and saturated palettes. Gesture - through evocative mark making using brushes, brooms, bikes and thickly applied oil. Process - choosing to work in freezing temperatures, sustained sun exposure or by utilizing dice as mechanisms of chance. Findlay transfers his playful and energetic lifestyle to his paintings, with many of his works being grounding exercises that regulate emotions and overstimulation. Because of this, repetition is consistent within his work, from the techniques of the Horizontal Lines series which evoke the calmness of; morning lakes, deserts at sunset, or forests in fog - to the snapshots of intense movements created when swinging a broom at full force. Findlay holds a Bachelor of Science from The University Of Melbourne and a Graduate Diploma in Psychology from Deakin University. He has worked as a sports massage therapist for over a decade, is a multi-instrumentalist (drums, synthesizer, voice, bass) with more than 25 solo releases, and has performed with the bands; JEES!, Cloud Kinski, Kakariko, Daft Folk and 8 Bit Love. In Berlin he maintains a full-time studio practice, mentors artists in process-based creativity and is active within the collectives: 90mil, Artistania, CANK, PHANTAZONiA, Pinky Promise, The Palace Collective and Greenhouse.