Distillation Series

I'm beguiled by abstraction and the diversity of personal responses to, and interpretations of, an artists non representational creation. I began this series seeking a fundamental shift in the direction of my art making. I wanted to explore the possibilities of making new art that was different to anything I had made before.

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My early arts practice saw a recurrent use of landscape as a metaphor for spiritual space and, in this series, whilst that concept was never far away, I wanted to experiment with new painterly processes in order to create an environment that enabled the evolution of my visual language, beyond landscape, pushing my work further into the realms of abstract.

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Employing new ways of mark making and laying down paint led to free, expressive and at times chaotic beginnings in the early layers of these paintings, which I gradually refined and reduced over time to symbolic forms and lines. The heavily textured  surface of the canvas is the result of numerous layers of paint applied during the resolution process. I spent many hours working on the refinement of each piece, adding and subtracting elements before finalising each composition.

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The unique direction of each work was informed by reflections on personal narratives and memories during the painting process, which allowed stories between visual elements to emerge.  Each painting offers the viewer non representational spaces where their mind is free to wander and interpret visual elements according to their personal story.