Oliver Gosling

Space and form

Oliver talked about his work on 2 December at Brighton Uni. 

I was particularly interested in how he used space in his paintings, the balance between space and form.  He spoke of space as being the emotive anchor of a work, and as being how the work unfolds.  Both liberating and compressing. It can be layered, giving the sense of spaces within the space.  It can infiltrate form. Form emerges out of space, gathering materiality.  The materiality of space.  It supports meanings such as absence, loss, abandonment. It's expansiveness counters all the input in our lives.  A lot of space throws greater emphasis on to the forms. It can be disorienting (where am I, who am I?) Space leaves freedom for interpretation.

Influenced by paintings and ideas of the Song and Yuan dynasties, developed in Chan art which made its way to Japan - Zen art which was more highly developed.  Simple, reductive use of space and form.