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Shortly
after studying art in university, I began teaching art in school. Experiments in ceramics, weaving, enameling, printmaking and sculpture at this time had a considerable influence on my paintings, and I became very interested in moving beyond the restrictions of a flat picture plane. Deep texture and dimensionality quickly became important components of my work, allowing me to build on influences derived from Rothko, Olitski and Motherwell.
My more successful pieces explore the properties of grid and matrix as they relate to colour andform. Fragments of nylon screen complement the wovencotton fibers of the canvas, creating both microand macroscopic structural matrices for holding colour. The edges of the picture plane are always emphasized, further accentuating these vertical/horizontal ridges and patterns.
I describe most of my more recent paintings as portals - windows or doorways that encourage the viewer to consider the very centre of the paintings as a passage to another pictorial space, realm or consciousness.
The edges of the picture plane act as a vivid, vibrating barrier, preventing the eye from leaving this middle space.
I spend considerable time developing these framing elements with in-painting and textural embellishments. Strips of canvas, cotton twine, mesh, lacing or wire are sewn or glued in place in layers, creating a rich surface texture evocative of ancient maps or manuscripts.
Some portals are what may be termed "rotational landscapes" with the foreground wrapping around the edges of the picture plane and the sky/background in the centre. Others are marquee-like constructs that are more theatrical than representational.
I believe a painting should attract the viewer from a distance, beckoning him closer to reveal beautiful and intriguing structural subtleties and lyrical nuances. It should invite a sense of the unseen or mystical. Good painting stimulates a rich and on-going dialogue between viewer and canvas. It should present the viewer with a new visual experience and reveal its physical history candidly.
A painting is an artifact of the process that celebrates awareness.