The Ceaseless Motion of a Man Reading a Newspaper.

This artwork reflects on this business of hurtling thru space at a terrific speed, even when we’re standing still on Earth. It’s intriguing. Even whilst sitting reading a newspaper the Earth is spinning around at over 1600 Ks an hour. And to add to that our journey around the sun each year takes place at about 30,000 Ks an hour. As if this wasn’t enough to ruffle your hair I find that our entire galaxy, our Milky Way, complete with our Earth and solar system, spins around at some 220 kilometres per second, or around 800,000 Ks an hour.

It’s a sobering thought to think on this and I will leave it there. But it did occur to me that on the micro level, inside us, we have atoms and molecules whizzing around too. In short: everything is moving in constant motion.

I had sketched studies of the seated figure several times and was looking for a suitable background when I remembered a book I'd read, back in the 1980's, on Chaos Theory. I remembered an intriguing pattern called Penrose Tiling that has a strange, dynamic visual movement that won’t keep still. It was a curious artwork to paint with the background gently shifting around which in part made the figure look even more static.

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Born in Hampshire, England, Colin arrived in Australia in 1971 and found work making chandeliers and later delivering rental televisions. Studying for matriculation over two years at night school he enrolled in Art College at the Preston Institute of Technology in 1975. A number of leading artists taught at PIT and Colin had the opportunity to work in audio with David Tolley, conceptualism with Dom De Clario, with the hard edge painting of Dale Hickey and the large, expressionistic work of Peter Booth, all of who have subtly influenced his own art. Majoring in Sound and Painting Colin left to drive taxis and to teach Art. Failing to heed the advice of a gallery director who told him to consider concentrating on one genre and sticking to it Colin continues to produce figurative paintings and drawings; large, ambient, colourwork and the occasional sculpture, installation and audio work.
About my artwork.
My work is generated from things around me that fit a certain feeling. At times I go looking and find them in places, or in objects and people. Other times I find them in a less active fashion, in sounds or perhaps in dreams or blends of colours. I find making artwork irresistible and enjoy the actual cognition of looking, listening and producing the work. Art is a rich tool, a mechanism that I can use to explore and respond to this curious and strange world where things appear both solidly real and also evasive and elusive.