X10

This is the tenth “X” I’ve painted. (The first one emerged somewhat out of frustration and ‘cancelling’ of what was already happening on an existing canvas.) I enjoy the simplicity of the X, and either as a single standalone or stacked in rows, it provides a grid in which I can explore the interplay of colour, contrast, texture and edges (soft and hard). I try to make each one a different romp (and not merely a colour change-out).

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Painting what I don’t know and the curiosity towards what might emerge compels me back to the painting space.
I need to interrupt my think-brain into the welcoming of surprise.
I’m enchanted with colour and the tension between bright and saturated versus dark and mucky, large and tiny.
The work was initially figurative, but over time that felt stifling. Finally, the urge towards abstraction surfaced, and it’s been that way ever since.
Current riffs mingle loose marks with hard-edged geometrics, flat colours with transparency, matt with gloss, and big strokes with itty-bitty threads.
There’s a long-term liaison with the brush and marks I find beautiful.
Been painting on and off since my late teens, mostly in acrylics on stretched canvas (and more recently, MDF panels).
There was a half-year stint at Elam School of Fine Arts (University of Auckland, New Zealand), but it’s been otherwise self-taught.
It’s not a pay-the-rent thing. It’s part frolic, part therapy, mushed with lashings of frustration and doubt. But it’s also about making the work available for other folks cause I don’t want to hide forever.
Enlivened by the ocean, detritus, awakened beings, the whopping cosmic romp, Mark Rothko and all vigilant truth n’ beauty seekers.
The paintings here may go back a while. I need time to see if they’re ripening or rotting. A union of experimentation, inspiration and surprise in each work is what I share for sale, irrespective of vintage.
Born in New Zealand and soaked in Sydney, Australia, since 1995.