The Titanic Painting

The fluctuations between flatness and depth, abstraction and representation, the contrast between light and dark and the process of painting itself, all play important roles in my work. The city at night in particular holds great interest for me. The spectrum of coloured lights on a backdrop of darkness can create almost magical and ethereal images. Such images created as a consequence of the exposure of light on dark have had a strong influence in my work. Although photography is used to record scenes from the city, it is simply a device through which to mediate between the reality and the painting. The painting is an extension and re-interpretation of the photograph.The source of light in my paintings is artificial, my aim is to create a sense of illumination and luminosity, which is the essence of these paintings. The light appears as many guises, as a mere residue on the surface of an object, as an emanation from the object, or as the substance of the painting itself. Light has many connotations and fulfills many roles, in terms of function in a city environment. In the same way light performs different functions within my paintings. It is applied as a formal device, from which to create a pictorial tension through manipulation and contrast. As a result of the oscillation between abstraction and representation, the paintings also exude a sense of ambiguity.