Elliott Paul Emsley
Membrane from Outsideness
Recent Paintings
Elliott Paul Emsley Membrane from OutsidenessRecent Paintings
In these paintings I’ve tried to simplify the forms so that actions and elements are depicted economically. There are essential shapes and gestures which become a sort of shorthand which can be expressed and altered creatively.
You begin with an idea but in the end the painting itself dictates the form it will take. That means being constantly awake to suggestions that arise within the fluidity of the paint. This may happen early in a work but usually it occurs after many blind alleys and scrapings off. Most of these paintings have beneath them a series of earlier works with which I was dissatisfied. They provide a fruitful ground on which to begin again. The forms and shapes of the discarded work when painted over offer new directions which may not previously have been thought of. Within this process of continuing doubt, destruction and revision a hint or suggestion of a new possibility begins to appear almost as something glimpsed in the corner of the eye. If grasped in that moment and given form it can surprise and excite.
Searching for an abbreviated way of depicting the figure has led to similar experiments with associated forms. The architecture of homes and buildings redefined. Many of the figures are within or near to glass fronted structures resembling homes or buildings. These are deliberately without volume or solidity, a kind of membrane from outsideness. We find security in homes, buildings and structures but their protection from what is out there remains tenuous. I find that large buildings such as resorts, hotels, monuments or stadiums have decorative potential
when simplified. Similarly I use swimming pools in abbreviated form. They are a useful symbol of separation from the climatic dictates of nature. Water itself is heavy with symbolism. There are also sun loungers redolent of lassitude and luxury. In some paintings the figures are deliberately small within a larger context suggesting perhaps the futility of vanity and ambition.
Space is not empty. It is visually solid. Many of the works have clouds which are simply a looser form of the more dense clouds we call matter. The various shapes of clouds and their simplification into oblong shapes can articulate the space within a painting, acting as a useful compositional element in establishing formal relationships within the work.
The chosen forms and shapes which a painter manipulates through a series of doubts, moods and physical tiredness become a kind of language which at the end may have a degree of coherence.
The paintings are in acrylic on canvas or cardboard. The quick drying paint allows for overworking without lengthy periods of drying. This means one can work with great flexibility in a continuous process. Working sometimes on cardboard I find that the corrugations, stickers and holes encourage freedom and immediacy.
Elliott Paul Emsley, 2024
Resort 2022
Acrylic on canvas
150 x 180 cm
State Visit 2024
Acrylic on canvas
130 x 180 cm
Fleet 2023
Acrylic on canvas
130 x 180 cm
Langour 2023
Acrylic on canvas
112 x 137 cm
Gift 2023
Acrylic on canvas
80 x 90 cm
Boulevard 2024
Acrylic on canvas
95 x 115 cm
Acrylic on canvas
80 x 90 cm
Barbecue 2023
Acrylic on canvas
80 x 90 cm
The Snake 2024
Acrylic on canvas
90 x 90 cm
Night Flight 2023
Acrylic on canvas
80 x 90 cm
Season 2023
Acrylic on cardboard mounted on canvas 100 x 100 cm
Sphinx 2023
Acrylic on canvas
80 x 90 cm
Sleeper 2024
Acrylic on canvas
80 x 90 cm
The Pool 2023
Acrylic on canvas
90 x 90 cm
The Reader 2023
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 60 cm
Stadium with Floodlights 2023
Acrylic on cardboard mounted on canvas 100 x 120 cm
Resort at Night 2023
Acrylic on canvas
80 x 85 cm
A Beautiful Ship 2023
Acrylic on canvas
95 x 120 cm
Bathers 2024
Acrylic on cardboard
40 x 80 cm
Many a Slip 2023
Acrylic on cardboard mounted on canvas 28 x 36 cm
Study for ‘Season’ 2023
Acrylic on cardboard mounted on canvas 40 x 40 cm
French Painter in the Garden 2023
Acrylic on cardboard mounted on canvas 40 x 40 cm
Winter Sun 2023
Acrylic on cardboard mounted on canvas 40 x 40 cm
Have to Go. The Dog Needs a Walk 2024
Acrylic on cardboard mounted on canvas 28 x 36 cm
Stadium 2023
Acrylic on canvas
25 x 30 cm
Joggers 2024
Acrylic on canvas
25 x 30 cm
25 x 30 cm
Figures in a Room 2024
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 42 cm
30 x 42 cm
Acrylic on cardboard mounted on canvas
40 x 50 cm
Acrylic on cardboard mounted on canvas 40 x 40 cm
Study for ‘Flight’ 2024
Acrylic on cardboard mounted on canvas 40 x 40 cm
Elliott Paul Emsley was born in Glasgow. He lives and works near Bristol.
Front cover, detail of:
Resort 2022
Acrylic on canvas 150 x 180 cm
Back inside cover, detail of:
Sleeper 2024
Acrylic on canvas 80 x 90 cm
Catalogue © The Redfern Gallery, 2024
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