Maximilian Daniels: Past Light

On a sunny morning in my studio, the sun light streams in through the large sliding glass windows and cuts a strong, diagonal shadow across the floor and wall. It also passes through the boughs and leaves of a willow tree and casts a dappled light that flickers and changes with the wind. As the day moves on things slowly change and by the afternoon the environment is very different. Each day the light is different. Each day the weather is different.

These simple, often subtle aspects of days spent working in the studio are recorded on the canvas in each painting in Past Light. Each day a layer is added, the paint dries overnight and the process is repeated, painted on top of the last. Some days a choice of colour can reference heat, or the tone of the sky. Or on others a brush mark can refer to something smaller such as a branch or shadow. While geometric lines and shapes can suggest elements of the surrounding architecture.

The finished painting represents experience and observation of this environment over a period of time. The transparency of the paint allows the first and last layer to be visible, looking through to a Past Light.