'nocilis'

'nocilis' 762 x 762 x 35mm wood, canvas, gesso, graphite, silicon, sealer 

'nocilis' is a non-representational composition made of part-industrial, part-art materials put together by a certain process. The square shape as well as the silicon 'decals' place this work in the interesting space between painting and sculpture so that the whole piece becomes the work – stretchers included. Directional light add colour to the work, as well as reflection off the space it is hanging, making it ad hoc site specific. Viewing from a distance defines the grid while reading from up close identifies the process as a mathematical effort, clarifying the work method.

The work was made horizontally, allowing the silicon to drop and drip by gravitational force, limiting the artist's mark, thus referencing the viewer's cultural background rather than a narcissistic statement. 

And yes, nocilis spelt backwards is silicon.. to indicate towards the material again.

Post-modern process art

There is no reference outside the work, it is all there - inside the work - and it is real.  All of it is material - it is what it is.

Materials have body, presence, volume, touch, colour, thickness - non-mimetic qualities - and they are real, they are there to be worked in a big or small way by a process initiated by the instigator.  Me.

Process involve the action of the making of the work.  The works stops with the action completed and all that remains is signification that shows that an event has taken place.

Materials are influenced by gravity therefore the floor is the logical place to make these works - that's where the feet are, my place, my history and my culture.  There's no possibility for a contemplative gaze which requires distance (that will come later when displayed somewhere else, or on a wall), no chance of seeing yet, blindly and intuitively working and drawing, cutting, imprinting, smearing, scraping, looping, looking down onto the floor, moving around the work in progress until the action is finished and it's time to lift it to the vertical to enable a contemplative gaze.

Then the looking starts - with the brain desperately trying to make sense of it all.  With no reference outside the work found, the viewer is forced to engage with questions like How was it made? What was it made of? Where was it made?   This process of discovery happens in the present and places the viewer in the present, in the now. It involves all senses.  You move in close, then step back again, then move around to see all detail, even from the back.

Then seeing follows - what is it doing?  What am I doing?  What do I feel?  The experience of looking and seeing can impact the viewer on a personal, cultural level as there is no reference outside the work by which it can be judged.  The reference becomes the viewer. You.  And me.  Because in the end, when we are interacting with the artwork, we become part of the work. We bring with us our histories, our cultures, the places where we have been, where our feet have walked and we find our own language in these works that don't reference anything at first glance.  We read them, we see the signification that suggests the event that has taken place and we start to feel, to listen, to experience,  to understand. Ourselves.

640 x 640mm card with cut-outs, silicon, on oiled deck