This work of art deals with the relationship between glass as a material and the material qualities of oil paint. This relationship which I started to explore when working with glass turned into an outright obsession with glass as a material. Small Glass No.1 is part of a series of five, that was painted reworking the same colour scheme with a slight difference from the previous. Like each part of the series inherits part of the previous gradient.

The artwork is part of the series Containing Depth:

This is where all elements intersect: paint, glass, the sculptural, depth and shape. Geometrical shapes are painted in front of others, hover on a transparent surface or are pointed out by the form of a sculpture. Each shape forms the boundaries of a gradient, containing the endless.

A small note on the colour blue: We learn to view blue by staring at the sky and peering into water. Yet both elements amass colour due to their mass. A little bit of air is transparent, yet a lot of air slowly changes into blue. The colour blue arises at the sky because we view the faraway through air laden with drops of water, leading to what is called aerial perspective. The classical example being a blue mountain lying in the distance. However, we can never grasp this blue mountain, we can never reach it. We cannot grasp blue as it is a form of light, yet we perceive it because of an accumulation of matter. In my view, blue is not a colour but a sensation bordering on the material and immaterial.

Especially darker blues and greens reach depth through the accumulation of paint. Oil paints can appear like glass or lacquer, containing pigments of chemicals or earth metals into a mass of oil. This led to my use of glass and perspex. Their transparency makes the materiality of the ‘canvas’ paramount as it resonates with the lacquer like appearance of oils.