Spencer Finch

21 Mar-28 Apr 2012

Overview

At the core of Spencer Finch's practice is his ongoing investigation into the nature of light, colour, memory and perception. Utilizing a range of media from painting, drawing, photography and installations using fluorescent lights with coloured filters, Finch distills his observations of the world into glowing abstract colour. Each work has its origin in Finch's own observation of a particular time or place with a lingering historical resonance, from a recreation of the light at the site of ancient Troy in Eos (Dawn, Troy, 10/27/02) – to a futile attempt to capture the colour of a waterfall in White (Niagara Falls obscured by mist, April 17th 2006, 5.30pm). Inherent in the work is the tension between the objective investigations of science and the subjectivity of perception and lived experience, endowing his work with a melancholy that comes from what Finch describes as 'the impossible desire to see oneself seeing'.