The work of the last few years affirm a commitment to abstraction while suggesting different types of codified visual information in complex states of flux. Enigmatic and distorted forms float and intersect in fluid and ambiguous space. Figure and ground are sometimes distinguished by strong matte and gloss contrasts adding a visceral physicality to the surface of the paintings. I aim for a certain kind of humor in the anthropomorphic quality of some of these forms. Might they be bodies without organs? Organs without bodies? I’m interested in some of the wilder conjecture going on in biology, physics and cosmology as well as some of the more theoretical thinking in contemporary architecture. But ultimately I resist specific interpretations within the work.
I like the difficulty of abstract painting and its resistance to overt sources. The work stands at a distance from narratives, pop references and easy ironies. I prefer work that determines its own surprises and rewards a more singular and slower kind of visual reading.
-Jeffrey Bishop