I paint to pose visual conundrums for myself. For me a painting starts to work when I recognize that a form is being suggested

while a sense of mystery is retained about what exactly that is.

I am concerned with identification and recollection and how they work in painting. Although many of the forms of my

paintings come from our visual world, I don’t observe these things while I paint. As a result the subjects enter the canvas already

abstracted, and in a sense, become analogous to their original sources. Hence, while painting I am searching for how to derive

these abstract forms. Although I have a simple premise for a piece, I don’t want a painting to be a one-liner, and by the time the

painting is finished it should provide unique insight, while still remaining kindred to its origin. I am after a certain type of mark

making that is meant to transform into something besides pure paint but at the same time not relinquish its painterly quality.

When I get an idea for a work I make small exploratory pieces. I keep reworking it. Any form that gets put on paper or canvas

enters an evolving reserve of forms. Once it is there it can easily be revisited or even combined with another. All the wall space in

my parents’ house is dedicated to the hanging of paintings. The works cover the walls in a salon hanging style. This is the place I

grew up in, a place where there was always a painting staring back at you. My evolving reserve of forms acts in the same way. By

surrounding myself with imagery I maintain a fertile ground from which to raise the questions I have posed in my work.

Gavin Gewecke -2010