I wanted to build a world in between the sound and the imagery of these two reference points and suggest a story that happens there. The story is about the discovery of painting, the way Art oozes out of beautiful life and saturates the artists who feel it and digest it. We need it like water or blood. There’s also something daunting and numbing about painting.
The title of this exhibition, Come as far as the edge of my blood, and swim, comes from a song I quite like by Nick Cave called Magneto. The imagery of the paintings is strongly influenced be Michaël Borremans’ Black Mould exhibition. I wanted to build a world in between the sound and the imagery of these two reference points and suggest a story that happens there. The story is about the discovery of painting, the way Art oozes out of beautiful life and saturates the artists who feel it and digest it. We need it like water or blood. There’s also something daunting and numbing about painting. Painting is endless, there is no perfect painting, there is no destination, just devotion. These paintings became steps on an endless road. Every painting finished just helps to clarify how much further painting goes. Every one offered me a lesson and prompted the next question. The questions were pretty simple; what benefits are offered by a neutral grisaille or one done with sanguine? Should I paint the grisaille over a yellow ground? Or paint directly over a burnt sienna ground? These questions knit themselves together with questions about imagery. Do these images convey the devotion required? Does their world feel separate to ours? Do their pursuits have purpose? All these questions are like loose threads scattered around me. These paintings are what it looks like when I try to weave them together.
Massey completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) at the National Art School, Sydney in 2015.
He creates a range of figurative, portrait and still life paintings that focus on the tension between human ambition and purpose. His ambiguous narratives lead to open ended paintings that seem to seek purpose through absurd action. His works have been included in group exhibitions nationally and internationally. Massey currently works from his home studio in Geelong, Victoria.
The title of this exhibition, Come as far as the edge of my blood, and swim, comes from a song I quite like by Nick Cave called Magneto. The imagery of the paintings is strongly influenced be Michaël Borremans’ Black Mould exhibition. I wanted to build a world in between the sound and the imagery of these two reference points and suggest a story that happens there. The story is about the discovery of painting, the way Art oozes out of beautiful life and saturates the artists who feel it and digest it. We need it like water or blood. There’s also something daunting and numbing about painting. Painting is endless, there is no perfect painting, there is no destination, just devotion. These paintings became steps on an endless road. Every painting finished just helps to clarify how much further painting goes. Every one offered me a lesson and prompted the next question. The questions were pretty simple; what benefits are offered by a neutral grisaille or one done with sanguine? Should I paint the grisaille over a yellow ground? Or paint directly over a burnt sienna ground? These questions knit themselves together with questions about imagery. Do these images convey the devotion required? Does their world feel separate to ours? Do their pursuits have purpose? All these questions are like loose threads scattered around me. These paintings are what it looks like when I try to weave them together.
Massey completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) at the National Art School, Sydney in 2015.
He creates a range of figurative, portrait and still life paintings that focus on the tension between human ambition and purpose. His ambiguous narratives lead to open ended paintings that seem to seek purpose through absurd action. His works have been included in group exhibitions nationally and internationally. Massey currently works from his home studio in Geelong, Victoria.
