Paul Higgs

Paul Higgs
Paint Construct E 2009
wood, fabric & mixed media on paper
78 x 103 cm
Image: Stella Downer Fine Art

Here is an artist who I've admired for an age yet never really been able to experience until recently when I saw his work first hand. Here's an image from Paul Higgs' upcoming show. He calls these painting constructions (not collage) which to me is such a delicious term because it captures exactly what painting implies; that being both a cognitive and intuitive process of placing and pushing elements of line, form and colour. Collage (or in this case, construction) has everything to do with the painting process and it bridges a gap between what can erroneously be defined as the separate disciplines of painting and drawing. In my own practice I frequently find myself obsessively hording failed bits of painting or drawing, or scraps of paper painted with left over colour which I rip and place; experimenting with combinations I might not have the guts to go through with on canvas. Whether or not these become works in their own right they almost always provide a solution for a tricky painting problem.

Here's more about Paul Higgs from his upcoming show:

" .....a tense and surprising music like, considered balance of complex opposites. The inert and the frenetic, energy and rest, harmony and dissonance, all find unity in these energetic, playful and joyous compositions. His paintings and mixed media paint constructs are a testament to his commitment to abstraction.
HIGGS' works are a vigorous repartee between colour, line, texture and movement.