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After some years as a Realist painter my art took a radical turn. Since 2001 my work has been mostly figurative abstraction. It is difficult to find an exactly appropriate “ism” which describes what I do. The work represents a culmination and distillation of some historic precedents: Baroque composition, color and chiaroscuro; a distortion and redefinition of space and volume similar to, but less abstracted and softer edged than, Cubism; and what the Surrealists called “automatism” — or the exploitation of chance. Often the iconography and media of popular culture are employed, which would suggest that it is Pop Art. However, unlike Pop Art, popular culture isn't the theme of my work nor is the Pop source even apparent. The sources I use are digital and photographic; that is intentionally distorted photos, photos of photos, photos of video, damaged laser prints and so on. These are the sketches and studies for the final compositions. The imagery is process driven and the somewhat accidental nature of the process is key to the aesthetic. Often my paintings have the look of Baroque religious art, and so I give them religious titles. However I don’t set out to express any precise meaning in these. I simply follow (and yes, control too) a series of accidents. You may (as I do) consider them like a psychiatrist’s Rorschach tests — that is, they mean whatever they happen to mean to you. — John