Chapters

Under New Management

This series began with canvases that were never originally meant for me. They arrived with a previous life attached, which is usually more interesting than a perfectly blank surface, and slightly more complicated to fit in a car.

Made shortly after returning from Bali, the works mark a new phase in my painting practice. I came back with fresh ideas, new techniques, and a clearer sense of what I wanted the paint to do, or at least a stronger opinion about it.

The title refers to the change of hands, but also to the slightly optimistic idea that I am now in charge of what happens next. The canvases kept their history. Everything else is under new management.

The Drops

Made during a period in Bali, this series is shaped as much by its environment as by the act of painting itself. Rain arrives without warning, humidity slows everything down, and surfaces rarely behave exactly as planned. Rather than resisting those conditions, I started working with them.

The Drops is a collection of paintings that emerged from that process. Some are rooted in daily observations, others in specific places or states of mind. Together, they reflect a period of making where control became less important than paying attention.

…or be square.

This pair of square works mark the beginning of a new direction. The paintings are reduced in colour but not in energy. Rather than focusing on image or representation, they focus on what paint itself can do.

Built through thick layers of oil paint, both works revolve around gesture, movement, and physical presence.

The title is partly a joke and partly an instruction. Sometimes the most important part of painting is not having a plan, but showing up and starting anyway.

Be there