OBJECT PAINTINGS
While living in London I wanted to create work which responded to elements of my environment. Just like in my series of New Zealand acrylic paintings, I wanted to be influenced by the local and allow that to change the course of my paintings: in this case the artificial built surroundings.
Integrating basic concepts within Brutalism, of which there is plenty of in London, I set a framework from which to begin this new series.
I mimicked the granular concrete surfaces, spray-painted graffitti gestures and cacophony of fractured bright visual information all in fierce competition for your attention.
In assembling these paintings, selecting materials, building components and applying compositional logic I wanted to create small domestic-scale contemporary urban landscapes: tiny re-interpreted urban vignettes.
A main concern was aesthetics through materiality.
It was important to place these works in the city environment around me, so I deliberately worked with artificial materials like spray paint, lurid colour and plastified acrylic to evoke the sensation of urban immersion.
Each painting holds an intense internal conversation within it’s confines of colour, shape and texture. They are intended to be understood as three-dimensional objects, frames are included - both structurally and formally.