Damien Minton Gallery is excited to present a new body of work by young Australian artist James Drinkwater.
"He died from being an artist", oil on canvas, 1300mm x 1200mm, 2011.
Here he describes the process by which he develops his paintings and sculptures:
I start with long walks where I make photographs, drawings and I fill my trolley with found objects. I turn the photographs and drawings upside down or on their side or I leave them as they are depending on how I find the image most interesting. I focus on the negative shapes and points of tension. I then begin to work on at least 15 paintings and a few found object ensembles ranging from small to quite large, splashing thin paint around and placing different objects next to one another I start to process my research and begin to make sense new ideas. Each painting receives many hits and with each hit the surface quality improves and my intentions become clearer. There is a lot of painting out and as the painting comes of age my moves and marks become more deliberate…full of intent like old men playing chess in a park. These final decisions made are arduous and quite often painful.
I have often described my paintings as incoherent mind maps. I am deeply connected and involved with the stunning details of life. I am an optimist, a naturalist, I am not an academic, my approach is raw, primal, however deliberate and emotional. For me its about those long and important hours painting, that is where I form a relationship with the work, that is where I form the dialogue. Like keys on a map I have this visual alphabet and visual words. The better works are lyrical however, more like a poem than a song. They all finish more or less at the same time like a dream or a film.
James Drinkwater
Nostalgia for Nothing
22 March - 16 April 2011
