Idiosyncratica
Oil on canvas
33.5" x 23"
2007

Idiosyncratica represents a maturation of the complex merging style first exhibited by Black Water (2002), and developed further with Perpetual Fluidity (2005) and The Child Snatchers (2006). As with those earlier works, disorder and intensity characterise Idiosyncratica, yet its images are less intimately entwined. I did this because I wanted to create more ‘breathing space’ amongst subjects, allowing the viewer’s eyes to absorb how the subjects relate to their backgrounds. I was also keen to develop creative ways in which I could instigate, siphon or ostensibly fragmentise backgrounds by corresponding or neighbouring outlets. For instance, ocean water submerges the images on the painting’s bottom left and top right. Despite division by a maelstrom of interrelated imagery, one’s eyes – assuming one considers the whole painting – connect the two sides, partially framing the central imagery and supplying an otherwise entropic composition with a degree of conceivable balance.