Degree Show works (June 2009 at Winchester School of Art)
Although ‘stripping down’ and ‘reducing’ are key elements of my work, I take issue with the art critic Clement Greenberg’s view that it is the ‘duty’ of modern artists to strip away all forms and illusions to get to an ‘inner spirit’. I operate somewhere between the abstract and representation. Latterly, I have also been interested in rooting my work in current social tendencies (initially text messaging, the topic basis for my Degree Show, but more recently giving thanks and play).
As in some of Ellsworth Kelly’s paintings, my work consists of forms that are very simplified, enlarged in size, and of restricted palette combining one colour with white. Also the canvas, already large, is deliberately not big enough to accommodate the form, which is sliced by the edge and continues itself in the mind’s eye. I impart some dynamic feel to my work, sometimes by the simple device of tilting an axis of symmetry, or by setting shapes in opposition to each other. Like Gary Hume, I also try to imply a ‘frozen in time’ quality, a feeling of energy held in suspension.
