Substance

I've been gripped for the past 8 months or so by the concept of "abstraction"- specifically the fact that all visual perception relies on the interaction of light on surfaces and the idea that all representaion is necessarily an abstraction. An artist cannot bring a tree into being on the canvas- merely make a series of marks which the viewer may (or may not) interpret as "tree." These ideas aren't new, of course, but becoming aware of the implications of them has been a radical epiphany for me, like a teenager suddenly realising that "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "The Alphabet Song" are the same melody. This is why I have chosen seemingly "mundane" subject matter for these paintings- shadows, walls and floors and simple furniture. Within these simple subjects which in a literalist mindset we would identify with names like "chair" or "vinyl surface" is the abstractionist world of a lighted rhomboid surface or gradiated shadow triangle form further translated into the language of pallete knives and oil paints. These are baby steps and are likely to be interpreted as pretentious art-school wankery, but I know that they'll lead me somewhere really interesting.