Andrew Crane’s Paintings On Concrete Are Meditations On The Abstract And Symbolic Nature Of Numbers
Andrew Crane’s paintings deal with the abstract and symbolic nature of numbers and letterforms, his work concerned with reality and the infinite. Crane often builds up his canvases using thin layers of cement as a ground to his compositions – his lack of craftsmanship a help rather than a hindrance – as the uneven surface creates a foundation that is deeply textured and gives him a perfect base for his “philosophical ramblings”.
Crane sees painting as a meditation and is fascinated by the space in between things and numbers – his work a contradiction of orderly mathematics and a textural process that is open to accident and chance.
Here’s what he says about his work:
I love the abstract nature of number and letterform when stripped back to their symbolic/energetic origin. For me, numbers as quantitative animals are only useful as they relate to the Whole…or as a way of expressing the infinite…or as a way of tricking the mind out of its addictive nature. My endeavour is to use the convincingly ‘real’ and familiar language of word and number, in such a way as to point towards a whole new and infinitely more fulfilling reality – one that has of course, been staring me in the face! I like the ideas that these pieces are visual koans*.
* Koan – a paradoxical question to a student for which the answer is demanded, the stress of meditating on the question often being illuminating.
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