GRAHAM KUO

My work reflects a preoccupation with effecting an aesthetic reconciliation between a Western abstract sensibility with a uniquely Chinese form of calligraphic mark-making, through a visual language of gestural, lyrical abstraction, with colour and form assuming dominance over figuration or representation. Space is a critical aspect of my work with bold calligraphic brush marks, frequently in black but with traces of colour flickering within them, suspended within an ambiguous space created by the white of the primed canvas and contrasting with areas of chromatic brilliance in textures ranging from ephemeral cloudlike forms to densely applied raised areas.

 

This visual language is derived from two distinct cultural and aesthetic influences – the general stylistic language of 20th Century Abstract Expressionism and lyrical abstraction, and the Chinese Buddhist tradition of calligraphy. Although working in a Western medium my work draws heavily on the contemplative and instinctive mark-making of Chinese calligraphy with images which evolve and grow organically rather than to a preconceived or contrived plan. The act of painting, for me, is an event, and it is these events which I am depicting.

 

This latest body of work is inspired by light with the resultant shadows and moments of brightness, in this case, celebrating a spring pallette. These paintings reflect the impermanence and transitory nature of our visual impressions, as well as the sensation of movement, suggestive of dancers spinning and leaping and thoughts half formed and then lost. My intention is to evoke the fleeting nature of the play of light on objects and surfaces and the sometimes startling shifts in colour and mood.