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ABOUT COLIN

 

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Colin is a quintessential “solitary painter” of our time, not because he is engaged in art-making that reflects the trends of the present, but more because the opposite is true: his paintings, while clearly of the so-called post-modern era, are independent of most current external obsessions, focusing solely on the meditative journey of the singular person.

Colin is no “outsider” artist. Nor is he a primitive. And he is not a naïve painter. However he is almost entirely self-taught – and well informed at that. He keeps a healthy distance from the critical theory of contemporary academia that so often stifles the timeless practice of painting as meditation.

 

This, I believe describes Colin’s practice to a T. After more than twenty years of practicing, his obsessive approach to painting has, at last, been distilled to a pure, elemental form. His work as it now emerges from the studio reveals one painter’s maturity.

 

As far as meditative practices go, Colin’s is his own. It would be too easy and fashionable to say “Zen”, although some aspects of his orderliness do invite the thought. But there is a self-described obsessive-compulsiveness and ongoing internal dialogue that defy the comparison. Still, there is a monk-like quality to his work, methods and studio set-up.

 

There is no doubt that his dialogue and compulsions stem from eschewing social pressures and influence, and reflect a natural instinct for non-conformist behaviour. It is just as clear that his highly personal and independent approach to painting is his own form of meditation or even a kind of self-styled ritual magic: He is forever pursuing the elusive “moment” in panting, where a surprising clarity emerges, resulting in a sort of “successful illusion” seemingly erasing all evidence of effort or even rational thought. The result is the ritual object born of much effort and rational thought, but somehow transcending it. This is the magician’s greatest trick: the hope of expressing bare honesty through sleight-of-hand and brush. 

 

Looking at a painting by Colin, one sees the many elements that are used regularly to make up his vision, but there is no one thing that is the subject other than that vision. There is a calligraphic brushwork delineating shapes and making spots; there are opaque erasures; and there are washes of colour often covering thick impasto textures. Above all these elements are combined to reveal a tireless reworking of the vision. A pursuit made of many forays, pauses and returns lending a complexity of colour and dynamism that culminate in the harmony and vibration that is sought. Quite simply put, they are good abstract paintings in large part because they refuse the facile conclusion.

 

I’m not sure much more needs to be said, though undoubtedly much more could be said and will be said about the work. Perhaps the final word, for my purposes here is simply that just looking at the work is sufficient reward unto itself.

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CONTACT

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colin.art.mtl@gmail.com

 

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