26 June – 27 October 2012
‘The Paintings come about in a circular sequence like pieces in a jig-saw and exist as families or pairs.
The impasto is a result of reworking and a desire to give substance to light itself. A necessity to simplify
allowing colour to be an equivalent to space and volume comes into conflict with a pressure to give
detail. Space to me has a certain density and texture which is rippled or distended by our movement or
presence. Then wraps itself around us as gravity.
I cut space up and open it out onto the picture-plane-surface incorporating the viewer. Occasionally this
is bent tilted or split with a combined high and low view. Naturally one is nurtured by the Old Masters
particularly the Siennese Venetian and Dutch Schools. I borrow from a multitude of sources which are
changed slightly. The antecedent to my work goes directly to Paul Cézanne.’ CW 2012
Christine Watson creates fascinating images which appear simplified. Closer inspection reveals their
detailed composition, underpinned by a highly textured paint surface. They intriguingly balance positive
elements such as beckoning views, meetings and sunlight with darker ideas like blood, deserts, and
floods.
Christine Watson studied at the Birmingham Institute of Art & Design and the Royal College of Art,
London. Born on the Wirral, she is currently based in Chester. www.saatchi.com.christinewatson