Forests of the Night

Forests of the Night grew from a photograph I took of my local tram stop, although the finished painting has moved well beyond simply recording the place. What first attracted me was the striking contrast between the deep blue shadows and the sharply illuminated wall, and the way a single waiting figure became almost incidental within the larger geometry of the scene.

Like much of my recent work, the painting explores the relationship between light, architecture and presence. I'm increasingly interested in how light can transform the everyday, revealing a quiet atmosphere that often goes unnoticed. Rather than describing every detail, I try to reduce the composition to those elements that carry meaning, allowing space, colour and shadow to do much of the work.