Matthew Webber
My paintings are influenced by maps, aerial photography and the landscape around my east London home. They are constructed, layer by layer, over a period of several months.
The addition of paint and texture is just part of the process, however, as the final composition is only revealed once I have pared down this built-up surface in order to expose the completed image. This process often involves belt sanders and angle grinders, and sometimes feel more akin to sculpture or carving than to painting, particularly when the canvasses have been particularly densely worked.
As the layers are stripped away, the anatomical skeleton of the piece begins to emerge, with the networks of lines and strata become increasingly interwoven and intricate as the process continues. The subtlety and delicacy of the final image belies the heavy-duty techniques involved in each painting's production.
An element of chance plays its part in the success or failure of these objects; long-hidden motifs emerge slowly, and unpredictably, through the excavation of paint. Colours and forms are uncovered, connections and disconnections made, and the final structure is revealed.
I am particularly interested in landscapes where the natural world meets the built environment, especially in the places where nature begins to reclaim its territory, obscuring evidence of the past through growth or decay.
