ink

ink

Make a mark. Make another. Make decisions with a light touch.

These paintings were made during the Covid lockdowns when normal life stopped – for most – and we felt our way in the new landscape.

They were made intuitively – for the most part – evolving beyond any form that I could index to an idea. One mark would suggest the addition of another and grow from there. Or some fragile cohesion would reveal itself inside a nest of marks and I’d attempt to bring it out without losing it. Some areas were washed away while others were protected with varnish. A shape that seemed to offer some cue to a whole may have been brought forward by flooding the surrounding area with inky depth, or by sanding into the white paper to create a spectral glow. Some of them were made using collage – the raw material of intuitive shapes and gestures arranged with conscious deliberation. It’s interesting – even exhilarating to be behind the curve of the marks being made by the hand.

Included here are other pieces of work that relate in spirit if not time.