Output details

Harness

The central question to be explored was 'how can found surfaces be used as support surfaces for painting?' Many of my paintings and drawings are made on the surfaces of mass-produced printed matter, including comic pages, history books and patterned furnishing fabric. I am interested in painting as an exploration both of the medium itself and of the surfaces on which I work. I use paint to destabilise and reconfigure the printed matter. Painting can be a way of exploring doubt and uneasiness in relation to what or how these surfaces may signify. Some of the ideas and debates that inform my practice stem from paintings made in the early part of the last century during technological advance and political upheaval. In particular, Braque’s Cubist collages and paintings, incorporating found elements such as newspaper. John Berger’s 1969 essay ‘The Moment of Cubism’ explores this in depth. Kurt Schwitters' exploration of his idea ‘Metz’ is also a key reference point. In 2008 there had been some significant developments in my work, which led to a large new series of paintings and drawings. This came from an experimental period in the studio which followed on from and directly responded to some of the works made for a large one-person exhibition at The Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh in 2005, and works made for exhibition at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007, where I was one of 6 artists invited to represent Scotland. Both as a result of this output and as part of my ongoing practice my work has been contextualised in relation to contemporary drawing, contemporary painting, Scottish art and British art. This has come about through discussion with artists and curators, and inclusion in exhibitions, publications and magazines.