Snow in the Barbican

Living and working in the Barbican, I am immersed in the sculptural drama of a brutal landscape. These paintings featuring the roof of the Barbican Centre below my studio balcony, the Barbican Conservatory roof and the sunken gardens on the lakeside. Here I explore the relationship between the urban and natural landscape and the way the landscape is revealed to the individual. My ongoing search for "the colour of concrete" is particularly resonant in the midst of winter where snow and ice have a transformative effect on the landscape heightening the stark brutal forms and structures. My process of reversing and painting on recycled palette papers with acrylic and ink allows me to employ the palimpsest of colour from a previous work. This has a special effect in a winter landscape because I am able to draw on the reflection of nuanced colours from the reverse of the palette paper. In this way, my process is itself a tangible reflection of the way snow covers the rich hues of concrete letting through glimpses of colour and hints of textures.