I began painting nearly ten years ago, with little formal training except studies in photographic composition and architectural design. In the course of my architectural studies, I became interested in the work of Zaha Hadid, Steven Holl, Lebbeus Woods, and other architects who were using artwork to describe architecture and the urban environment in a less rigid medium than line drawings and to create something more expressive of concepts and emotive qualities than a photograph or line drawing.
I started playing with acrylic paint as a way to study buildings and spaces beyond the limits of literal interpretations, and became very interested in artwork as a way to express something less factual- a more emotive, descriptive way of portraying memories, experiences, places, and ideas.
One of my early works, this square acrylic painting on particle board was done over a 24 hour period in Mies van der Rohe’s legendary Crown Hall (where I was studying architecture at the time). It’s a simple modernist glass box, and I felt that photos taken of the building were often bland and show nothing of the dynamic quality of light and space that makes the building incredible when you spend time in it. This work expresses my personal experiences in this vibrant, patinated modern masterpiece.
I began to develop a process for mapping a visual experience in a way that portrays the intangible qualities of the built environment. One key example is a painting I did of Frank Gehry’s iconic Guggenheim in Bilbao, which I visited in 2010.
A few months after my visit to the Guggenheim, I began working on a painting of the view between two of Gehry’s twisting forms. While compelling, it shows a literal view of twisted titanium- but I wanted to portray the intense emotions that you feel upon entering the space- the dramatic feeling of motion created by the twisting forms, the chaotic quality of light, the exuberant sense of arrival.
I start with the basic composition, mapping planes and surfaces of the architectural forms, whilst twisting and exaggerating to emphasize the visual effect.
I work in a rudimentary way, using paint straight from the tube. By using a non-literal colour palette to acheive a disorientation from realistic visual perception, I am free to instinctively use any colour for its emotionally stimulating qualities.
After the basic forms are complete, I continue to thinly layer paint on the canvas, creating complex textures and colours, essentially mixing paint on the canvas. Hundreds of layers generate rich tonal fields evocative of textures, spaces, motion, emotion, and detail.
As my studies of individual architectural elements became more advanced, I began expand my studies from studying single buildings, and began to extrapolate the same techniques to the scale of cities and urbanism.
This new larger scale allows me to capture and portray the essence of urban places.
I began to study the contrast between skyscrapers and vernacular structures, lively circulation routes and static structures, verdant parks and stark concrete edifices, dynamic sunlight and shadow- the basic building blocks of the city.
These skylines and cityscapes become non-literal, expressive of place and personal experience. This distorted reality makes it possible for a day view to contain iconic night lighting as a kind of composite authenticity that imparts an impression of the memory of a place- a way to simplify, express, and compare urban situations.
My work is a fusion of my architectural training and practice with my global upbringing and nomadic lifestyle.
The artwork that I create utilises vivid colours as an analytical and emotional codification system, mapping my unique perspective of the dynamic, intangible qualities of structures and urban spaces- beyond literal portrayals to richly layered experiential portals.
see a full timeline of my artwork
