What does it mean to take a simple shape and see what happens when you repeat it, stretch it, distort it, colour it, overlay it or remove it? What does it mean to keep playing with what you find acceptable as an image?

I do this over and over again and often come away feeling lost, confused and unable to remember the rules of taste. Where did I learn them, and why do I feel the need to constantly pull them apart? Why do I return to a place where I cannot tell whether what I have made is good, interesting or of wider value?

Time passes, my judgments settle, and I return to the paintings with new understanding. The work becomes a feedback loop of decisions, discoveries and revisions. I make new rules and erase them on the same surface. It began with a fascination with the work of Stephen Shore and the way he would use a central structure in each photograph, producing different outcomes each time. I approach painting as I approached photography: through exploration. Individual works accumulate into a body of work that is not linear but engaged with multiple questions at once.

A successful painting is one that defeats me. A successful studio session is often one that feels wasted. Both suggest that something has happened that I do not yet understand. The paintings establish patterns and possibilities for future exploration, even when I cannot yet recognise their significance.

On one level these paintings are simple arrangements of colour and shape. On another they are attempts to create conditions where meaning can emerge through looking rather than certainty. They are an ongoing search for ways of making art that prioritise discovery over conclusion and freedom over recognition.