Neon II

Facades, warehouses, bridges and constructions sites in London have been metaphors for my philosophical meanderings and curiosity about the bigger picture over the last two years. My painting is a continuous search for answers to questions, a kind of urban diary for contemporary London living. How our environment is structured, and how that shapes our identity and sense of purpose. I reflect back a transitory moment in an ever-shifting world and evoke an ambiguity that invites the viewer to determine their own interpretation. London is an infinite playground of ideas and inspiration and I take details of scenes and objects from unusual angles, toying with how we really see things in all different lights. When working on a series my studio becomes a mood board where I pin colour notes, line studies or photos of the subject to act as constant reference points. I go back and forth over canvases over time until I feel they are as complete as they can be while maintaining a crucial effect of spontaneity and movement through the brushwork. London is a sensate city, consistently overwhelming my senses and I channel this through highlights of colour, sinous or organic lines and impastoed paint.
I see my approach to my work as a constant process of curiosity and reflection. I am always taking photographs of things that catch my eye and often paint from the original, often eliminating or reducing the subject to an arrangement of shapes or a pattern of lines. Infact sometimes it is the pattern of the play of light and dark that becomes my subject. Other times it is an emotion or atmosphere I want to capture. A sense of ambiguity or uncertainty always seems to accompany my work. I am very much interested in transience and how much around us is impossible to contain or fix in one moment. This idea of a fleeting moment also acts as a vehicle for other emotions and states. As does colour, to convey a sense of eeriness, the fantastical, or the simplicity of everyday. There also has to be a sense of the universal. A sense of common humanity and experience to my work. I want to work towards an abstraction of my themes and an incorporation of diverse media. I have a huge passion for materials and love the sensuous handling of paint in the work of a lot of post War artists like Nicholas de Stael or the sensitivity of colour and light in a Rothko. My direction in the future lies with the complete abstraction of my themes and personally challenging myself to see the pictorial space differently.