migration IX ink on mixed media on paper 31x71cm © 2007 Tom Cartmill
![]() |
migration VIII ink on mixed media on paper 36x80cm © 2007 Tom Cartmill
.jpg)
untitled I (from the migration series) mixed media on paper 25x48cm © 2006 Tom Cartmill private collection
%20May%202007.jpg)
61² III mixed media on board 61x61cm © 2007 Tom Cartmill private collection
-b.jpg)
untitled (from the migration series)
ink on mixed media on paper
46x33cm
© 2006 Tom Cartmill about the migration series
The paintings in the 'Strata Series' are multi-textured and multi-layered. Initially built up with numerous layers of gesso, at differing depths, layer after layer of paint is then applied. I use a combination of different paints,contrasting their varying properties. The juxtaposition of different materials and textures is an essential part of my practice. My method of working also involves the making of my own paints, where I am able to saturate a medium with pigment, and apply it over or alongside, factory made paints.The paintings evolve slowly, layer upon layer. Some colours and motifs are painted over, no longer seen. Others are visible through successive coats of paint, having been rubbed through, scraped, worn away. These traces and suggestions of former layers are evidence of events from an earlier time in a painting's past and of the progression towards its resolution.The title for this series is a thematic key to the work. It indicates the physical process of making the paintings,as described above, and the clear geological reference relates to the fact that the paintings are also about the accretion of time and experience.