I want my paintings to be about colour, form, rhythm, structure, tension and balance - and that this combination should capture and hold the attention of the viewer.
When I started making abstract paintings I soon realised that complete abstraction still needs a well-thought out structure. In fact just as good a structure and composition as figurative works, perhaps even more so because figurative works have a story to fall back on.
The best abstract paintings hold their form, colour, materiality, rhythm and expression in an all-over harmonious structure, without one cancelling out the other. There also need to be both space and depth – optical depth, without perspective – but not too much of either of these or else the balance of the whole is disturbed.
Then when everything comes together, just so, you have the special magic of a great abstract painting.
I believe that abstract painting at this level has the power to evoke some sort of spiritual or metaphysical sensation in the viewer. This is the kind of painting I would like to do.
