Fields Thumbnails

"Field Series"

A number of musical concepts were influential to me at the beginning of this series of painting. The Indian ‘Raga’ was one such. This type of music, as if ‘abstracted into the air’, was handed down through time, not written. From this silent form of sound matrix the music must be re-interpreted by contempory players. In many ways this is similar to the role of the linear colour squares ‘matrix’ in this ‘Field’ series.
Of Equal importance were the works of such composers as Reich, Riley and Adams. The musical concept of these composers includes that of repetition with variety, a seemingly simple structure that is always subtly in a state of flux and seemingly timeless. Again with this series of paintings, although a simple looking repetitive matrix it is alive with potential for varied interpretation.

The choice of the square format and the 16 or 32 linear squares is very important. This creates ideas of repetition in that every part of the two dimensional plane is equal with no directional emphasis; spatially equal in all directions, as in ‘Bergen’s philosophy’, with no central dominance creating a sense of timelessness. I understand the repetitive open squares as a basic matrix which embodies many ideas for variations and interpretation. I try to create potential for interpretation through the use and language of colour.

I believe that the ‘open linear squares’ create more ideas than if they were ‘filled in’. As a student I liked ‘enclosure’ or ‘captured zones’ compositionally as in Magntagner’s ‘Agony in the Garden’. Of equal importance is the miracle of quick changes of mood, whether natural or man made. For example, when walking in an autumn landscape it is possible to be under the influence of a yellow tree, however this mood can quickly change simply by walking out from underneath its influence into another ‘zone’. This situation can also occur in architecture; spatial areas are defined and captured therefore creating limitless different moods.

Another idea that informs these paintings is that of an ‘arena’ in which over time, past, present and future, events take place. The matrix is laid out in a given shape so that various events can take place, dissolve and have others take their place continuously.

I like the phrase ‘Integrated Ambiguities’ to explain my ideas in these works. A simple, benign looking matrix is redolent with potential for varieties of interpretation. These can appear and disappear but the balance is maintained between all the variables because the basic matrix keeps the coherency of the painting however much threatened by the various events.

Colour is the interpreter of the matrix because it has an ability to ‘create’ and communicate on so many different levels simultaneously. In the 16 square series, colour creates the integrated ambiguities; the layers of illusion, the differing spatial situations, the changing moods and evocations, the references or symbolic meanings and the conflict or tension between the second and third dimensions. The conflict between illusion and physicality and the two dimensional relationships create changing formations and tensions across the plane. Within the open squares, the enclosed ‘field’ is constantly changed. This makes certain perceptions of the ‘field colour’ impossible and it helps to create the numerous other situations.
The 32 square series creates greater opportunities for variations of colour, therefore multiplying the potential for different possibilities. They also embody a reference to perspectival space and a sense of ‘seeing through’, which I find interesting. The conflict between the second and third dimension is made more varied and intensified along with the constantly changing colour of the ‘field’.
Each painting in the series, while embodying all the latent possibilities of the basic matrix, emphasises a specific visual aspect or evocation of a season, the essences of a place or the conflict between illusion and actuality; illusory space and actual space, intellect and the senses.

Another musical reference is in the organisation of the colour which is thematic. The selection of the colours is made as wide ranging as possible within the theme, within respect to the working of the other criteria and the necessity for the structure to appear random. However, the choice must constantly create equal, yet unpredictable, demands upon the viewer from any part of the plane.
I derive a great excitement from what seems to be on offer from such simple means and from trying to ‘pitch’ it all in such a way that interpretations can appear and then dissolve, either back into the basic matrix or onto another interpretation continuously. I want to move the viewer by purely visual means and a painting, for me, has its own independent language. I try to make a painting to be of lasting interest and I enjoy the discovery which yields its content to the viewer over time. Fundamentally, I want there to be ‘mystery’ created by a purely visual relationship, which, like poetry is difficult to explain in other terms, and just as certain sound relationships can create mysterious and inexplicable responses.
I would like these paintings to be like chamber music; distilled and concentrated, integrated and coherent, as well as being able to embody many varied ideas on many levels of understanding.

Matrix: ‘An environment within which something else originates and develops.’