My interests, in the '60s, were with hunting for totally abstract shapes as ENCLOSURES, where the boundary of these enclosed positive shapes can be thought of as a negative CONTINUOUS LINE. In the search for these shapes I found etching useful, as resists (in the printing sense) could define a negative enclosure; therefore black and white etchings were often starting points for paintings.
Compositionally, I found the square canvas a very interesting shape to work within; the pictures could revolve, as a sculpture can revolve, because there would be no right orientation, and its four CORNERS required four different solutions.

The title, CONTINUOUS LINE, CORNERS AND ENCLOSURES, omits to mention one thing: a preoccupation with MINIMAL COLOUR.


Illustrated opposite are three oil paintings on canvas 1.37m x 1.37m

During the 1970’s I produced a large exhibition of work entitled “Non Visual Pattern”, shown at Tullie House and Queen Mary’s College London. The content was more conceptual than minimal and therefore I have included nothing from this period apart from the etching “Circles” (no. 42) which has accompanying photographic sources.

For a brief period in the mid 1970’s I studied chemistry with the Open University. This was of particular importance to me as it opened up an interest in experimenting with chemicals/materials which crossed the boundaries between conventional areas of printmaking.

Illustrated opposite is an oil painting 1.22m x 1.83m

In the early 1980’s wanting to make multiples of my work, I stumbled on relief printing; first Lino etching/erosion, and then a decade later, Wood engraving. I found myself continuing with the preoccupations of the 1960’s but with one overwhelming consistency of interest running through all the work, a desire to remove tone (black and white) from colour relationships so that the full chromatic (red-blue-yellow) value can be seen.

Illustrated opposite is a reduction lino print 63cm x 92cm

R.H. 1999