"The paintings are staged scenes, manifesting facets of life which I feel to be profoundly
true; veiled with the incertitude of what we can define as truth. I'm interested in depicting
stories in a designedly curtailed portrayal of interaction; a figure relating to surroundings;
atmospheres which are detached from a clear and subjective view of experience, lacking
certainty, yet undeniably authentic."
Jack paints exclusively on small boards; his postcard sized pieces draw the viewer into an
intimate viewing of something larger than the sum of their parts. From claustrophobic
interiors with captive inhabitants, to dwarfed nomads in endless expanse; their sense of
scale expands and contracts like a changing lens.
Lit as if performers on a stage, Jack arranges figures within his paintings akin to a director
using actors to block a scene. The images themselves are reminiscent of stills from films;
depicting a narrative cloaked in ambiguity, desperate for a context which remains
inaccessible.
Jack's methods utilize traditional oil painting techniques alongside a shorthand of reactive
chemical processes; drawing a fine line between the formal and the uncontrollable. His
approach creates radical organic forms interlaced with fine, crisp and delicate characters;
creating an uncertain dialogue between human and environment.
"I maintain that it is the viewer of an artwork that ultimately decides where meaning lies,
and am interested in how this can create a uniquely individual experience; a conversation
between different trains of thought running through different minds. My aim is to create
paintings which are informed by my own curation of stories and ideas, yet can stand aside
from them as fully formed images; allowing viewers to take what they will from the
experience without excessive prompt or bias."
