Energies in the Dark
2017
Acrylic on linen
41 x 51cm
This is perhaps the most resolved of all my paintings that use a layering principle. It also uses the idea of the division of the left and right side, with an emptier centre. It is a principle of composition which became important for later work. In this case it allows space for a pink linear movement to cross the divide and link the two sides.
Photo: Anna Arca
Energies in a Green Light
2019
Acrylic on linen
41 x 51cm
This painting has some similarities with “Energies in the Dark”. They both use the same layering principle, and in both cases the lower “bass” layers are derived from earlier black, grey and white pieces. This one is almost entirely based on a much larger work on polyester. It is however a less dramatic composition than the previous canvas, without the central division. It is more concerned to suggest cool pervading light, giving a spatially shifting context to the soft grey circles, which are placed in a nearly symmetrical arrangement.
Photo: Anna Arca
Sides Against the Middle 1
2020
Acrylic on linen
41 x 51cm
This was conceived as an exploration of the idea of the empty middle. It is in some ways a literal statement, with very dense edges and a very empty central panel. It is interesting that even given this extreme intention there is a need to join the two edges and to venture into that central void from all directions.
Photo: Anna Arca
Sides Against the Middle 2
2020
Acrylic on linen
41 x 51cm
In this painting, although there is a vertical movement in the centre, a grey void opens up. It is demarcated by dark blue structural elements and articulated by a darker grey panel which surrounds and supports the coloured curving verticals. This becomes in effect a three part composition, with the centre having a more open and airy space in contrast to the more knotted and congested sides.
Photo: Anna Arca
Sides Against the Middle 3
2020
Acrylic on linen
41 x 51cm
Here, while the grey void still exists, it now seems to embrace all the elements equally. There is still the sense of three parts, but they are joined by a common atmosphere. This is enabled by the omission of the bright primary yellow found in the other two paintings.
Photo: Anna Arca
Dance in Two Halves
2020
Acrylic on linen
75 x 90cm
Here, as the title suggests, there are again two halves to the composition. The two dark, angular forms occupy opposite corners of the painting, while the two orange verticals stand like partners preparing to dance. The complex of curves forms a network joining the two sides.
Photo: Anna Arca
Carillon
2020
Acrylic on linen
120 x 90cm
With the vertical format of this painting, the horizontal movement becomes highly compressed. The darker structural elements seem almost to overlap and touch each other. There is an impression of a tall square structure, with an opening to the sky at the top. This and the overlapping curves, like waves of sound, gave rise to the title.
Photo: Anna Arca
Dawn Window
2020
Acrylic on linen
125 x 100cm
This appears to be a shadowed interior, with many angled structural elements, crossed by rhythmic swinging curves in warm colours, rising to the top of the painting. Here there are two ways through, an opening like a mullioned window showing the subdued blue of early dawn, and a lens shaped aperture filled with the brighter blue of the morning sky.
Photo: Anna Arca
Locations in a Square
2020
Acrylic on linen
100 x 100cm
A square is at once the most difficult and most rewarding of formats for abstract painting. The vertical and horizontal directions are equally balanced, so the challenge is to discover a movement within this equilibrium. Here the angular forms move in a spiral formation, while the curving lines rise vertically and are also dragged across horizontally. Each of the “locations” described by the angular forms is divided differently by the curves to make each a distinctive place.
Photo: Anna Arca
Study for a Square (Rising)
2020
Acrylic on linen
50 x 50cm
Beginning from a similar basic structure to the last painting, this study opens up the right-hand side to make a deeper and freer space. The top right-hand corner now appears to recede behind a horizontal blue band, almost like a horizon. The interlacing curves on each edge of the painting are very strong advancing elements which become forms in themselves, while the darker grey curved shape, which seems to waft upwards from the centre is spatially indeterminate, like smoke or a fog. In effect the middle of the composition is opened up, as with some of the previous works here.
Photo: Anna Arca