sound under snow (diptych) Painting

‘sound under snow’ was painted over the mid-winter period of 2013/14 and as much as it is a pining for snow at the time I was also listening to a lot of ambient and minimalist neo-classical music which kind of got me thinking on how heavy snow fall effects sound, the way it muffles and deadens sound waves. I was also thinking on objects caught in ice. I chant as part of my daily Buddhist practice, during this chanting I make offerings by burning incense that is laid flat on a bed of ash. I was not intending to capture that as an image but I do see that in the work as something subconscious that seems to be present in the work, maybe due to the intention of this being quite a meditational thing to look at. I do try and capture a sense of ‘Om’-ness within the work I make, or probably more ‘myo’in my case. I chant and make offerings everyday so the placing of incense on the bed of ash and its burning are very much in my mind; an habitual ritual. These paintings are concerned with integration/disintegration, form/formlessness, existence/non-existence, instability and the transient nature of life and phenomena. Echoing our modern times where much that has been relied upon and trusted as substantial, solid and unchanging has been questioned and broken down. These themes and ideas being informed by my own practice of Nichiren Buddhism and the study of Buddhist concepts that discuss the transience of life and all phenomena as well as the cyclical nature of life and death. The ideas behind the work have also been influenced by earlier interest in Taoism. The Tao concept of ‘Way’ through which all things arise and pass away; the distinction between being ( yu ) and nonbeing ( wu ) is also present in the ideas behind these paintings. The compositional arrangement in these paintings have been considered from Japanese aesthetic principles such as Ma – to empty or open, and Wabi-sabi – valuing the quality of simple and plain objects. And, the concepts of silence and emptiness as expressed in Ch’an ( Zen ) Buddhism. I was conscious of the importance of space and emptiness, a space and emptiness for something to form, or the space and emptiness left where a form once was. The painting has been made by placing stretched canvas on the floor. A brush being loaded with paint and then tapped gently above the canvas to give a spray effect; the surface becoming made up of small dots and splashes of paint giving some surface texture; although this is quite minimal as the paint is heavily thinned. Layers of paint are applied one at a time; wet-on-wet or wet-on-dry, and each layer of varying tonal strengths to the last, depending on texture and visual effect desired. Painting is signed, dated and titled on rear. Ready for hanging. Fixings for the two panels to be hung together or apart will be supplied. Due to the nature of fixings for the panels to be joined the depth will increase to 5cm.