28 September 2025
“On diversion”—one hears this phrase over the announcement system on London buses when they need to skip a chunk of stops for one reason or another, and I've been thinking about it in relation to painting; beginning with a destination for each work, losing control of where it is going, and (hopefully) ultimately finding an unexpected resolution is an obvious parallel. But directly thinking about diversion as its own throughline in painting seems like it could be generative in that it is wrapped up in negation—of ideas, of instinct, of rational reasoning—in the act of making. Or maybe suspension is a more appropriate word, because if negation is a by-product of self-awareness, maybe holding those ideas, instincts, and rational trains of thought while simultaneously resisting their pull is implied.