Euan Heng

Artist statement:

My work may reference reality, but it is essentially and obviously artificial. Initially, the artificial derives from abstraction in figuration, that is, to abstract from.

This method of construction introduces new and unexpected compositional opportunities, employs geometric limitations that foster immediacy, economy and flatness. Flatness not only echoes but also indulges my interest in Quattrocento Italian iconography and medieval frescoes.

The first line of the poem, To the Moon, provides a title. The work did not originate from Shelley’s poem but found its way there during its making. According to the novelist Howard Jacobson, ‘Inspiration doesn’t precede the work, it finds itself in it’. Although my ambition is to expand the potential for pictorial expression and communication, in the end, it is after all, the making that impels my motivation.