Artist's Statement: Some thoughts on my painting
Some of the recent work has more of a linear scaffolding that both articulates the space and disrupts it. The geometry of the forms and the interplay of the scaffolding activates the movements within the paintings, much like we navigate the architectural space of buildings.
In architecture we are directed by portals and passageways and destinations, in the paintings there are never fixed destinations, color and surface can lead you astray, directing you into unknown territory. Groups of paintings seems to suggest a collective consciousness, where one painting acts as the precursor for the next. Although there is a shared topic of conversation amongst the groups, there are differing discussions taking place, some are quiet and others more aggressive. These paintings have many more vacant spaces, where the surface is barely touched by color. Are these spaces pauses between incidents? Do they act as places to rest, or are they footprints waiting to be built upon? The white spaces relate to the notion of displacement, the removing of what existed before as in the urban core or in the displacing of virgin land with new dwellings. In the paintings some of the white space is untouched primed canvas, some are white spaces recovered, reflecting their history of change.
In other groups of works there is a thinness and transparency to the paint which seems to suggest an atmosphere or a sense of light being transmitted. The surface of paint is more open, more playful, the result more uncertain. They act like the layered veils of fabric, here the veils of color reveal a process of editing, of wiping away, of excavating. The thinner paint skins reveal various marks or subtle gestures, a sense of touch becomes more evident in the paintings. The structure gets pared down and hopefully more assured and to the point. The paintings have a sparseness, internally, they refer to one set of incidents rather than many. They have a slower read.
Color is a primary concern and focus. It’s a fascination I have had for many years, with its changing identity through different surfaces and processes. I think my ongoing curiosity about color was further heightened after moving into my new studio, where the carefully balanced studio lighting has provided the opportunity to examine color more intently.
Curators’ Statement
Rosser’s work examines an abstract language, exploring architectural forms and constructed space with particular attention to color, its transitions and subtleties. Related to this exploration are investigations of the "space" an art work occupies as compared to the space in which the works are seen.
Rosser’s long-time interest in the relationship between the work of art and the viewer, and that a "painting" does not always have to be vertical on the wall facing a viewer at eye level, comes through in these vivid smaller works, and the way we have chosen to display the works in Gallery B.
This show illustrates Rosser’s interest in printmaking, with trial examples of his process in creating monoprints and the multi-layer of color transparencies creating deep implied space that can be achieved in that medium.