Statement
My graphic images are based on a personal exploration between painting a two-dimensional image on a flat surface, and a cosmological hypothesis. This theory entails that space is required for any outline to exist —a duality— rather than a singularity; which is the current consensus in cosmology.
Since my youth, I have been fascinated by the tactile sensation of painting —the rhythmic movements of a loaded brush of colour across a spatial ground of a white surface etc— the only difference today, is that my work is graphic rather than representational. I am a perfectionist at heart, never truly happy with my last artwork: this keeps me creating ‘one-off’ images until I have found the perfect picture.
Before putting pigment to canvas, I first need to know what kind of image I am going to paint. I work out the ‘idea’ with small-scale sketches in graphite, then prepare an acrylic study once I have made a decision on the content. Using colour swatches and intuition to determine suitable colours, I then transfer the whole design to the full-size canvas and begin painting.
In my newest painting, the composition is a ‘modern-day equivalent of how primordial outlines created a real image’. With art, an outline will appear between two flat areas of colour side by side if real space is present; in fact, you can read my image as follows, i.e.: yellow outlines on a black background, or, black edges on a yellow ground: a duality exists with every outline in nature.
You must be yourself for your art to be true.
Mark GN Richards (MaGNeR)