Urban Geometry and Natural Rhythms

My paintings reflect the textures and twisted grids of London, the city where I live and work. The pace and flash of urban energy, the mix of multicultural customs and languages, the anonymous trajectories of a million crossing paths - all merge in my mind as I make my way to paint in my studio.

The momentum of the city mirrors the pulse of networks that bind us together. An information web encircles us and creates a continuous flow of connections that interact and proliferate. As we feel these fluctuating currents, experience seems less stable, more random. The patterns in my paintings are intended to reflect this state of shifting complexity.

Yet the process of painting begins with an empty canvas that suggests to me the solitude of an open field. The momentum and focus of painting distances the everyday world and brings a sense of natural cycles: the patterns of weather and light, the rhythms of land and sea. In the end, a finished work is simply the trail left behind by the curious and solitary pursuit of a painter; it is the bright aftermath of one in search of sanctuary.

In the current art world, themes of political urgency and post modern irony might seem more relevant than the personal quest of a painter. Yet oil painting continues to have a stubborn and sensate presence that draws us into itself. We stop before a great painting. We are inexplicably pulled out of our routines to a state of contemplation. A painting may, if good enough, fill us with mysteries, a mystery ship floating out to sea, far from the safe harbour of the rational mind.

Painting persists. It continues to have the power to strike a resonance in our hearts and ignite a radiance in our minds.