We re-construct our worlds not spontaneously, but based on habit and our surroundings. We are actively engaged in ourselves and give ourselves value within our own surroundings. Working with the question of chance, randomness and freedom. I have created a series of abstract paintings that deal with randomness and its effects. This work is a power struggle between plan and spontaneity. I question how much of what surrounds us defines who we are? How much of what surrounds us remolds us into characters that we would not expect.
Philosophers such as Gabriel Marcel say that it is within ‘the other’ that we find our own freedom. That it is within our relationships that we develop and grow and become better people for it. My paintings are about this redirection and trying to understand it. They are not about spontaneity, but everything else that leads to it.
The notion of repetition in my paintings is not just to recreate a piece over and over in a mechanical way, but also to question the notion of plans and ourselves. In every piece there is a distinct uniqueness yet every piece has followed the same procedure as the one before. The process of these works is the heart of this piece. It is the layering and the transformations that the single painting goes though which has the greatest importance to me.
I have explored the process of my paintings with layering, transparency, size amongst other small tests. Through this exploration I have decided to allow the medium to take its own path and not force it to look like any previous work. Debating with the idea to measure out exact weights of paint, colour and wax before hand I felt that it was important to use the medium as I normally would, without too much thought and at a quick pace. The wax has an important quality for my work because of how it interacts with the wax and wood that surrounds it. This IS what my work is about. They are not about the static repetition or a loss of control but about the notion that sometimes just allowing yourself in to an unknown situation can end up beautiful.
