My work is concerned with exploiting the tension between subject matter and the application of paint. I am interested in exploring how different techniques and painterly styles can affect the overall atmosphere and mood of the painting.
I am intrigued with photographs of abandoned places, crime scenes and wastelands and feel that the ambiguity and banality which I see in them is a potential for painting. When these elements are taken to painting they are drawn into a conflict between the ordinariness of what is being depicted and the monumentality of what may have occurred there.
I see the poured paint as a kind of curtain or veil which acts as a device by which the forms are hidden, distorted and bleached out. The decision process then begins to revolve around what is revealed and what remains hidden. These attempts to de-stabalise the image are intended to disrupt the work and bring me closer to the tension and discomfort I hope to achieve.
