Spirit on the water
Spirit on the water I
Oil on canvas
100 x 100 cm
Spirit on the water II
Oil on canvas
100 x 100 cm
Spirit on the water IIII
Oil on canvas
100 x 100 cm
Spirit on the water IV
Oil on canvas
100 x 100 cm
on the water V Oil on
Spirit
canvas 100 x 100 cm
Spirit on the water VI
Oil on canvas
100 x 100 cm
Spirit on the water VII
Oil on canvas
100 x 100 cm
Spirit on the water VIII
Oil on canvas
100 x 100 cm
Spirit on the water
The paintings in the Spirit on the water collection were born of separation and longing.
I was living in the city of Johanessburg and my partner was living at the coast. Most mornings, at first light she would send me a picture of the ocean or lagoon from her walk.
I would take these to my city studio and begin making paintings, simplifying the geography into pure abstract terms- clearing the images of unnecessary detail until I had a painting that ‘felt’ like I was standing before the water. Soothed by looking.
They are technically not abstract paintings (in the Rothko sense) but rather translations of images of bodies of water being acted upon by light.
They are made for the experiencing. Standing before them is to allow the action of light on water to become spirit and engage the viewer with the charge held within them.
I was excited at the prospect of showing them in Brighton, a place very much in conversation with water and light. My hope is that the spirit animating them finds reciprocity in viewers across the ocean.
Hermann Niebuhr 2023