Dhama Thanigasapapathy

The semi-figurative landscapes of future possibilities are based on a complex layering of reality, imagination, multiple overlapping memories, cultural stories and emotional drivers including unease and nostalgia.

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The awe-inspiring power of natural forces transform, dissolve and erase constructs over time and space, creating a sense of the ephemeral nature of time in relation to human lives. Rather than showing the moment of devastation, it stands at the edges observing the creeping anticipation and intentionality and the elegiac aftermath. The ghostly remnants of the past linger as storms and seas encroach, time elapses, erosion occurs, human artefacts break down, natural objects are displaced, matter grows over the ruins of civilisations.

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The materiality of the paint – splashes, drips, paint flowing like water, air, fire and earth - echoes the chaotic nature of the subject matter. There is a tension between the evocative abstractions that create energy and the touches of detail underpinning representative structure, leaving the viewer the work of resolving the image. A key part of the process is fusing the conscious components with the gestural mark-making driven by fermenting subconscious emotions.