Untitled, Blue Print

The Artist calls on an earlier artistic interest in these pieces, having been very engaged in colour field studies at the beginning of his exploration into abstraction. The Red and Blue works are approached from the perspective of an Abstract Expressionist painter, injecting some of the more painterly and gestural aspects of expressionist painting into the work as a means of channelling emotion and the Artist's perception of form and structure. The expressionist device is a further means of creating an emotional response to the chosen materials and colour palette. The result is a rhythmic play of movement across the canvas as opposed to a pure colour field study. The Artists considers these works to be an experimentation in colour as an expressive medium essential to the production of composition. Drawing inspiration from a vast field of artistic references, from the Baroque to the abstract, as well as Minimalism. The initial works (Untitled Red and Untitled Blue), are created as opposite studies. The Red piece, based on a white ground, and the Blue based on a black ground, were constructed in dozens of layers using a single pigment, adjusted using minute amounts of pure white or black as an additive to the base colour. These pure pigments were applied to the canvases using a variety of instruments, cloth, brushes and even the Artists bare hands. These energy charged paintings allow the colour to become a sensory experience for the viewers to immerse themselves in a wash of colour and rhythm as it invokes an emotional response in the onlooker. The interplay of blazing light, colour and structure, combined with the practised impact of hand-applied pigments, imbues the work, characterized by a partly purist clarity and the Artists vast passion for colour, with strength and energy. At first glance, the works seem almost emotionally violent, like an exchange of blows or branches that stretch, intertwine and clash in a flourish of movement. In combination with the chosen colour field, they heighten our view of the many ways in which colour can be used to achieve its impact, resulting in a more intellectual controlled perspective on the work. After further contemplation, the viewer often interprets a sense of nature, the storms that blow over the ocean, clouds of smoke and the movement of wind through trees and tall grass. The works overall presentation is oftentimes harmonious and natural, like a cluster of trees, recalling perceptions and experiences that resulted from the Artists own observations of nature. The works did not depend upon external influences, such as an illustration or photographic reproduction. Instead, the Artist allows the medium, the canvas and the emotional response to colour to influence the overall composition. The dynamic works not only impart the Artists passion for colour but heightened energy and a highly autonomous approach to Abstract Expressionism.