My work is in many ways is a reflection of my background both as a graffiti artist and a fine art student where I became increasingly interested in Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. During this period I was learning about art history, producing works on canvas and painting graffiti. I believe both elements of school and street have shaped my work in a manner that would not have been achieved if I would have simply studied at art school or if I only practiced as a graffiti artist.
In part, the roots to my approach can be found in my graffiti past where I painted bright colourful optimistic graffiti in disused public spaces . In this setting my aim was to leave behind a graffiti painting that would shine and reach out to you among the debris and in doing so the message seemed to be, beauty is possible anywhere (but nowhere more importantly than in a place of decay) and in this context a form of visual alchemy had taken place. This has proved significant and has had a lasting influence on me when confronting the stark blank canvas very much in the same manner, with the intention of making something magical appear out of nothing.
To date I think many of my paintings can be summed up as Expressive Pop, Power Pop or even Bubblegum Pop. The works at a glance have many of the hallmarks of bright, bold, eye catching Pop Art but without a 'Coca Cola' reference. It is the mood and shimmer of Pop Art that interests me most, not the referencing of real things. A combination of mood and expression go into making a painting. In piecing these forces together the result is a hybrid style born of these combining factors, offering the viewer a vision into a world that seems out of the ordinary. If anything, my work provides the viewer with a sense of escape where by one can loose themselves among a bright, inventive cosmic nebulous of excitement, like a worm hole into another world.
Traditionally much of my work has been described as super optimistic, recently however there has been a shift in focus. This is best indicated in the titles of some of the new paintings, such as- Super Sonic Atomic Plasma Boom 2010 or Smashing Atoms 2011 the shift (in my mind) seems to refer to splitting atoms or collapsing stars and thus points towards something explosive and violent as opposed to bubbles and weightlessness. Increasingly I imagine my paintings as inventive visual depictions, either to be thought of on a minute subatomic level or as huge cosmic events such as a super nova and the inevitable creation of stars and planets. Destruction, change, cause and effect. The possibilities when viewing my work can be interpreted as microscopic and telescopic, micro and macro. And therefore, space can be viewed as outer and inner simultaneously.
It is not just titles that indicate a change in mood and intention. Some of the colours suggest not all is as it should be- Glowing red and orange clusters have now mutated into fluorescent chemical greens and yellows, seemingly as a result of a radio active fallout. Or the weird blue and pink webbing effect depicted in Super Sonic Atomic Plasma Boom suggest something viral perhaps. Glitter and doom share the same space.
I think of my very latest paintings as a multi-verse of possibilities. They are in many respects landscapes or space- scapes but not in the tradition of trees, lakes and farm houses. The paintings are packed full of elements- liquids, gases, fire and solid multi coloured spheres are all present and jostle for position just as they would do in the creation of a universe. the paintings for me are an imaginative glimpse into another world, from the super big to life inside an atom, the point is, it's up to you. For me a painting is an active site of pure potential for both painter and viewer alike, where anything is possible.
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