Lamella ii Painting

The title “Lamella ii” comes from biology, where the "middle lamella" is a layer which adheres the cell walls of two adjacent plant cells together. As one of the earliest works in this series of Abstract Expressionist works, the title comes from the way that these works are built up in layers, juxtaposing often quite bold, intense and contrasting colours and a diversity of textures from delicate and translucent glazes, to thickly rendered impasto gestures. I start with no preconceived notion of what the finished work will look like, embracing chance and improvisation, so it is impossible to predict with any certainty how the paint will behave or the colours interact. Decisions about what to apply next onto a given work, are made in a spontaneous, intuitive way, and every mark or gesture is a response to what has already been applied. These intensely coloured expressionist abstractions, are a personal response to the strange new, post-truth, pandemic-stricken world we now live in. They represent a kind of conceptual freedom or escape. Lamella ii is an oil painting on a wooden panel, with raw pine edges and picture cord on the reverse, ready to hang. It will hang flat against the wall on one screw or picture hook.