My work is about response to vision, which is expressed through painting and other methods of image making. I'm interested in the relationships and dialogs I establish between the fine-tuned rendition and gestured imagery. I use a term I coined back in Art School, ‘Photo-Field Composition’ to help me describe the motivations in my studio practice and in the main body of my oeuvre. The name is derived from Photography and Color-Field Abstraction, and pictorial composition, the three key motivations in my studio practice of the last decade.

In Photo-Field Composition, I work on two parallel exploratory lines. Firstly, I explore compositional ideas using the limited or monochromatic palette. Secondly, I use experiments in and around compositional principles to explore the potential of these limited palettes. Blues and Greys characteristically preside over warmer colors in my work. As well as monochromatic palettes, I try to pare down my subject matter to only the absolute essentials. I prefer an uncluttered, unconfused setting, for a reflective ‘at-oneness’ with the painting.

Jim Overall

November, 2013