Paul Hirsh

ARTIST STATEMENT.
It’s easiest if I begin by telling you how I start, from a white canvas, laid flat. In less than five minutes, the whole surface is covered in thick oil paint, some of it squeezed in bold sweeps straight from the fat tubes. At some point sand gets added, either from a salt shaker, or sprinkled with a teaspoon. This all gets mixed up until no gaps are left. Then I have to stop, so as not to dissipate the initial energy and roughed-up surface. I leave it. For two weeks or more, sometimes much, much more, I let it dry, in a place where I can see it 10 times a day on my way to the kitchen or the bathroom. From the corner of my eye I see creatures and shapes jump out from the canvas. Or I might spend half an hour staring at them to pin them down. If I stare long enough, I can see many competing visions, begging for attention. And then one day, the story they are trying to tell me suddenly gels like the tea leaves at the bottom of the cup, and with a great thrill of excitement mixed with relief, I can bring that story out into the open with a minimum of brushstrokes, taking care not to beautify, or obliterate nuances of facial expressions or odd asymmetries that reveal deep stories. And that’s it. I call the process “...

Downside School
New College Oxford.
School of Oriental and African Studies.

One man shows: New College Oxford JCR;St Catherines College JCR;Oxford Modern Art, Pembroke Street, Oxford;Submarine Gallery, Kings Cross, London;Caixa de Catalunya, Tremp, Lleida, Spain;Comu de Particolars, Pobla de Segur, Lleida, Spain;Hospital Quiron, Barcelona;Comu dEncamp, Andorra;Galerie des Blanchers, Toulouse, France; Galerie Palladion, Toulouse, France; Restaurant les Tontons, Bordeaux (with Tim Hale). Group shows: Salon International de Clairac (47),France