Philip Swan

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My paintings feature hard-edged geometric shapes that are architectonic in feel. I never sketch out a work ahead of time; instead I work directly on the canvas, sometimes spending months on an individual painting, improvising my way to a solution. After superimposing an orderly pattern of lines over a loosely brushed initial composition, I then overlay this pattern with fields of solid color that can be interpreted as form and negative space in multiple ways.  When I arrive at a place that seems distinct from conscious planning, I feel the work can then exist on its own terms with no further intervention on my part. I want this process of incremental and purposeful modification over time to be palpable to the viewer: I am both masking the work that came earlier in the creation of the painting and allowing the earlier work to remain visible to illustrate this process of attentive engagement, with each adjustment generating subtle changes that spur further painterly considerations, leaving my tracks imperfectly repressed in the spirit of a palimpsest.

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philipswan.net