This work forms part of an ongoing investigation into painting in dialogue with musical structure. Referencing the Mephisto Waltz by Franz Liszt, the painting engages with abrupt shifts in intensity, contrast and atmospheric force.
The composition is structured around a divided sky, where zones of clarity and turbulence coexist across the surface. A dense atmospheric mass interrupts the field, partially obscuring the light source and destabilising the spatial reading of the image. Light is filtered rather than direct, emerging through layers of haze and compression.
Cloud formations are organised through directional movement, with contrasting passages of openness and density creating a sense of tension and imbalance. The darker land mass anchors the image, heightening the volatility of the sky above.
Executed alla prima, the work retains immediacy and responsiveness. Wet-on-wet handling allows colour and form to remain fluid, with marks accumulating in a way that parallels the shifting tempo and structural contrasts of the musical source.
Rather than illustrating narrative content, the painting translates underlying conditions—conflict, disruption and transformation—into a visual language shaped by gesture, rhythm and material process.
Medium: Oil paint on plywood panel, framed in Italian timber
Subject: Divided sky with dense cloud mass and filtered light over a dark horizon
Colour palette: Cerulean blue, cadmium yellow, orange, vermilion, violet, burnt umber, sienna, indigo, white
This work forms part of an ongoing investigation into painting in dialogue with musical structure. Referencing the Mephisto Waltz by Franz Liszt, the painting engages with abrupt shifts in intensity, contrast and atmospheric force.
The composition is structured around a divided sky, where zones of clarity and turbulence coexist across the surface. A dense atmospheric mass interrupts the field, partially obscuring the light source and destabilising the spatial reading of the image. Light is filtered rather than direct, emerging through layers of haze and compression.
Cloud formations are organised through directional movement, with contrasting passages of openness and density creating a sense of tension and imbalance. The darker land mass anchors the image, heightening the volatility of the sky above.
Executed alla prima, the work retains immediacy and responsiveness. Wet-on-wet handling allows colour and form to remain fluid, with marks accumulating in a way that parallels the shifting tempo and structural contrasts of the musical source.
Rather than illustrating narrative content, the painting translates underlying conditions—conflict, disruption and transformation—into a visual language shaped by gesture, rhythm and material process.
Medium: Oil paint on plywood panel, framed in Italian timber
Subject: Divided sky with dense cloud mass and filtered light over a dark horizon
Colour palette: Cerulean blue, cadmium yellow, orange, vermilion, violet, burnt umber, sienna, indigo, white
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Image 2 of 2