‘In Absentia’ gathers work depicting inhabited spaces absent of the human figure. This absence allows an unnoticed corridor, a recently opened window or a discarded jug to become the painting’s subject. By paying close attention to these backdrops of human activity, the works in this show evoke the way memory and association become powerfully integrated into the environments and objects we live in and around.
Throughout the show, there is a focus on light, capturing the reflection of daylight on silverware, or the patterned shadow of light through a curtain. By pausing to consider these often unnoticed details that surround us, these paintings evoke the brief moments of contemplation that mark an interruption to our everyday routine.
An absence of the human figure does not mean an absence of human presence. The figure is present indirectly: a carefully assembled paper chain placed in afternoon light; the recent placing of a teapot on a table; a staircase leading up to an open door; a distant house engulfed in a wild, surreal landscape. Witnessing these simple traces of human activity can often invoke the most powerful experiences of personal connection and mutual understanding.
Perhaps it is the pervasive sense of memory across this show that entails the dreamlike quality to so many of the works on display. By removing the human as subject, the viewer is brought into closer contact with the artist, in their intimate moments of reflection, memory, and solitude. Whilst the figure in these works is ultimately 'In Absentia', we cannot avoid the undeniable expression and therefore presence of the artist.