On colour, spontaneity and new direction in my work.

Lately, something has been changing in my paintings.

After working on Nocturnal Bodies, where figures emerged through darker, quieter and more atmospheric spaces, I found myself moving towards something very different. Colour began to return with an intensity I hadn’t necessarily planned. The forms became more fragmented, the gestures more visible, and the whole process started to feel increasingly spontaneous.

This is how Unbound began.

I didn’t set out to create a new series with a particular visual language in mind. The changes happened gradually, through painting, experimenting and following what caught my attention.

Following the Painting

I often begin with a face or an image that interests me, but once I start working, the original idea becomes less important.

A colour suggests another colour. A gesture interrupts a form. Something I intended to keep gets covered, and something unexpected begins to emerge.

In these new paintings, I’m allowing that exchange to happen more freely.

Faces and figures are still present, but they don’t always remain clearly defined. They are built, disrupted and transformed through layers of paint, sometimes moving close to abstraction before becoming recognisable again.

I’m interested in that movement — the point where an image seems to be coming together and falling apart at the same time.

Making Space for the Unexpected

One of the things I enjoy most about this new direction is not knowing exactly how a painting will turn out.

Sometimes a mark that initially seems wrong becomes the most interesting part of the image. Sometimes a painting needs to be disrupted before it can move forward.

There is still intention, and there are still decisions to make. But I’m becoming more comfortable with allowing the process to change those intentions along the way.

Unbound feels like an opportunity to explore that freedom more openly.

I don’t know yet where the series will lead, and I don’t feel the need to define it too soon.

For now, I’m enjoying the energy of these paintings, the surprises they bring and the possibility of letting each one find its own way.