Christopher Gill

I am an improvisational action painter, who paints rhythmically and instinctively. I rarely touch my paint brush to the paper. I paint exclusively on the floor, usually with gouache paint. I spill, pour, splatter, roll and drip paint on the large paper rolls I use, and also manipulate the paper itself, by moving it, shaking it, holding it and pressing it. My paintings are totally abstract, yet I channel processes of nature, such that my paintings often look naturalistic. Recently, I have begun to paint on linen and canvas, in addition to paper.

The poet Rimbaud said, "I do not possess my hand." This speaks to me that he was aware of the way in which his poetry channeled and facilitated forces beyond his conscious control. My painting also channels forces, patterns and elements beyond my conscious control. Some of these forces come from within me, and as such are psychological in nature, and some of these forces come from outside of me, from the larger universe.

My painting is a continual birthing process, by which my improvisations with color, form and action create micro and macro worlds from within myself, and from the patterns of the physical earth and from the larger universe. As such, my paintings are experiments about the relationship between intentional aesthetic, intellectual and emotional choices, on one hand, and the unintended interactive consequences of movement and color, on the other.

To put it a different way, I paint as an exploration of the relationship between the conscious mind and the unconscious forces and patterns of our world and of the universe. This pursuit is my passion and my life’s work. I can only hope that this work can reveal truths beyond what I consciously comprehend.