Late afternoon (Red Centre) 120cm x 120 cm oil on canvas.
Making work from found objects is not new: Prunella Clough springs to mind ; Henry Moore; Andy Goldsworthy but in the case of working with things seen, even transiently I came across the practice of Graham Sutherland. He said, The things one reacts to vary. I myself have sometimes noticed a juxtaposition of forms at the side of a road, and on passing the same place next week they are gone. It was only at the original moment of seeing that they had significance for me. In the studio I remember; it may be an hour ago or years , and I react afresh. The images dissolve; objects may lose their normal environment and relationship. It is the element of the accident and the accidental encounter which is important.
Making work from found objects is not new: Prunella Clough springs to mind ; Henry Moore; Andy Goldsworthy but in the case of working with things seen, even transiently I came across the practice of Graham Sutherland. He said, The things one reacts to vary. I myself have sometimes noticed a juxtaposition of forms at the side of a road, and on passing the same place next week they are gone. It was only at the original moment of seeing that they had significance for me. In the studio I remember; it may be an hour ago or years , and I react afresh. The images dissolve; objects may lose their normal environment and relationship. It is the element of the accident and the accidental encounter which is important.
I have been thinking about this: accident, accidental encounter, taking place before and during the work in progress. The way that the work evolves , the attention to the intuitive and the planned construction are equally important and I'm thinking here of Wilhemina Barnes Graham saying that none of her marks were unplanned, but I can't help the fact that at the moment my painting proceeds from the casting of the first marks, as a construction, as a painted surface first and an invitation to the observer second.
