Harvey Taylor
Profile
Painting in Progress - Oil on canvas - 48 inches by 36 inches - August 2010: This painting in oil is 48 inches by 36 inches - it is in progress.
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STATEMENT:
I am interested in the process of painting and find a way of working that I can explore in a series of work and then the process either stops or evolves into a new one, which could be the start of another series. In my abstract paintings the surface of the painting has been disrupted and shaped with ribbons of colour that coalesce into forms, inspired by shells and other natural forms. One series of work uses chicken wire as a mask, and the paintings are reminiscent of Severini and his Futurist work. The other ‘Interconnected’ series uses rich colours glazed over a textured surface. I also work intensely with a dip ink pen on paper, conjuring up nests and swirling forms that eat back into themselves. Working close up to the surface not totally aware of how the work is progressing as a whole and then stepping back to see what has materialised and then stepping forward to rework and tease out structures. The methodology is rhythmic, spontaneous, and free flowing. They are improvisational, and intuitively composed, where the physicality and the mark making become one.
The painting process is a ritual for me that is gradually transformed over time. The recent portrait paintings were inspired by Malcolm Morley and Gerhard Richter and have been built up one step at a time using an opposite working method to the earlier abstract work. Working from photographs has enabled me to scrutinise the image as if under a microscope. The paintings are worked on as if they were abstract images, so I am painting small squares of the work at any one time - not seeing the whole picture - but instead concentrating on details that magically form a convincing likeness of the subject matter. There are traces of the process in the painting but I tend to try and conceal it as I work towards a finished whole. The underlying theme to these portraits could be one of lose and separation – as I distance myself from the subject focusing on the object, seeking to be totally objective but like Gerhard Richter one cannot be totally objective, subjectivity creeps in.
CV:
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