Exhibitions 2010
Like the recent Sunyata series of paintings, whose myriad
colour and shimmering effect depends on light and angle of viewing, the Olympus series explores the
evocative potential and physical presence of paint. In these paintings, fields of colour and
painterly marks take on an heroic presence to evoke the drama of ancient Greek mythology. Their
titles refer to specific events (such as the taking of Persephone to the underworld) yet the
paintings mainly explore the sensation of pigment; relationships between colours (cool and warm);
painted marks jutting out, jostling and grating against each other, and gentle undulations of
surface that contrast with coarse, jagged edges. With expressive, archetypal use of colour (red and
black suggests Hades, grey is both sombre and luminous), and wavy lines of brush and palette knife
that create movement like static electricity, the Olympus paintings are chimerical allegories of the
legends of the gods.