‘Presence/Absence’

‘Presence/Absence #3’, monoprint & stencil, 25x20cm, 2015

These prints were made out of a continuing investigation into perceptions of solidity, and the reality of impermanence. The ideas and work of Mark Rothko and John Cage, and the philosophy and practices of Buddhism influenced the genesis and final form of the prints: causes and conditions, possibility, transcendence, the flux of life, and dissolution – what Mark Rothko called ‘intimations of mortality’.

The multiple layers of ink were, in most cases, printed over pieces of old prints with stencilled shapes placed randomly – all this occasionally revealing the previous life on the paper through (and under) the new layers; the new work continues to reveal images, objects and atmospheres, depending on where and how it is viewed. The density of negative spaces invites a close-up, investigative viewing.

These chairs without sitters, variously deconstructing, morphing, dissolving, revealing ghosts, are steeped for me in questions about the nature of being human – what is it, really? What do the patterns we see reveal, as we look closer? And what comes next?

These works were part of a group show of Studio Paradiso printmakers, at the Newstead Arts Hub, as part of the 2016 Arts Open Visual Arts Festival.

‘Dissolving #2’, monoprint & stencil, 25x20cm, 2015