Bob Colcutt

Bob Colcutt’s Paintings

The images are derived from the environment, both man-made and natural.

Surface marks and texture is still the underlying factor that intrigues me. I can often be found in various locations (camera in hand) searching for and capturing various close ups of imagery that intrigue or excite.

Many artists have influenced my work, but those with most influence include Jasper Johns, Mac Betts, Tapies, Firth Smith, Carnwath, Rauschenberg and Juniper.  I look for flat surfaces because I paint on a flat plane. I am not attempting to create an illusionary three-dimensional image and I choose to use paint in a free and unconstrained way.  Natural environments such as the beach and bush attract me and I also find inspiration in other sources such as a wall surface for example, or maybe a sketch on paper, maybe a hand written note, mark on a footpath or road, and so on.  Graffiti, marks and text can be found all over walls and sometimes this is the part that excites me.  Text has often been a part of my work and creeps in from time to time in this exhibition as well. Often it is just there as a mark and sometimes I am writing or stencilling in words that might be meaningful to me.

The message is often eradicated however and serves as a metaphor that the word really only has power in deeds, not in saying or writing. The use of stencils and masking is often a technique that allows me to knife, brush or spray the paint on with no constraints. Textures are often built in to the pigment or put down prior to the pigment application. I see texture as the most important part of the image and often the colours I use are reduced to chromatic greys to emphasize the graphic. World music (without lyrics) can help stimulate my work now and often my studio is filled with the sounds of various indigenous musicians from across the globe.

Having said all this, I am simply addicted to paint. It is something that draws me to my studio all the time.

Bob Colcutt, Painter