Surfaceless Painting

Unbinding painting from its traditional confines, the “Surfaceless Paintings” allow paint to autonomously forge its own surface, liberated from confines of a canvases and other substrates. This approach delves deep into the nuances, tactility, and emotional resonance inherent in the paint material. It unlocks yet another enigmatic quality of painting by pushing against limitations and harnessing the raw power of its own physicality.

The concept’s inception traces back 24 years to a moment when the unique, potent quality of dried, peeled-off paint on the studio floor first revealed itself. Initially suspended on wires, this recycled material inspired further experimentation with household gloss and acrylics, ultimately evolving into new possibilities with elastomeric caulk paints. Through these materials spontaneous swirls and blobs of contrasting colors are hanged in suspension, creating voids and negative spaces that heighten the abstract, surfaceless experience.

With this evolution, an additional grammar emerges, dissolving distinctions between “overpainting” and “underpainting.” Conventionally, only the exposed surface was visible, yet now both “top” and “under” layers are revealed in a cohesive, harmonious experience. This unity resonates with a balance akin to male and female principles, where both are integral and inseparably bound.

These paintings serve as reflective canvases, mirroring an artist’s search for validation within the art world, yet also the “surfaceless-ness” symbolizing the displaced and overlooked, echoing humanity's broader, often entangled, journey. At times, dried paints find a temporary home within stretcher bars, encapsulating an ongoing narrative in the evolution of painting: a vivid, wired interplay of contrasts that mirrors the complexity of our interconnected lives.