Cathedral Light
115 x 115 x 4 cm
2023
Oil on canvas
I built this oil painting up in layers of abstract and representational forms inspired by stained glass windows and the light observed in ancient European cathedrals. Although the shapes and spatial perspective remain undefined, it nevertheless aims to place the viewer in a transcendental space of light and reflections. It is part of a body of work painted in 2023 considering how light relates to darkness. I have had a long fascination with stained glass and how it filters and renews light into interior spaces. When viewed from the exterior, stained glass shows little of its impact and beauty, most often it looks dark and uninteresting - however, on entering an interior space, the window’s impact and significance is transformed and even extended by colouring other objects. This observation was a strong influence in how I built the painting layers up using contrasting values and tones. As with many of my other works, I’ve used a square composition as it reflects our age of social media and technology giants influencing how we consume images.