I made this piece during the two years I spent living and working in Berlin. I had just completed a residency over the summer of my second year and had moved into Studios-ID on Genslerstraße, which is where I made the painting.

While I was in Berlin, I saw a lot of exhibitions looking at digital aesthetics, so those elements and screen imagery began to feed into my own paintings. I also became interested in signs, symbols and logos; aesthetics which came from the graffiti, fashion and design I saw around me. Push Go is a culmination of visual influences from my time in Berlin.

During my research in the studio, I also looked at the traditional Chinese art form Shan shui which takes landscape as it’s basis. There are three fundamental components in Shan shui, the first being the mountain, the second a winding pathway or stream which connotes the concept of a journey, and the third is the ‘heart’ of the painting, which is the focal point at the end of the journey.

Crucially, this art form is not based on real landscapes but is essentially a collection of specific compositional elements. Pushgo is heavily influenced by these ideas. To me, this is a dynamic painting, cut through and held in place by geometric elements. It examines the contemplative, spiritual connotations of the triangle against it’s contemporary usage in design, logos and branding.