FLOW

Michael Golland

May 2014

Throughout history artists have used the line to articulate the relationship between the elemental proportions between voids and fullness. So it is that Golland’s fluid compositions – whether figurative, abstract or based on natural forms – start with the drawing of sweeping pencil lines: straight, curved, vertical, horizontal or angular lines traversing a monochromatic space. Golland then applies wide, continuous brush strokes that wash the lines with thin, almost transparent layers of paint, often as many as fifteen coats. This distinct style of colour rendering causes the lines to bleed down the canvas, resulting in what the artist calls “weeping lines.” These traces then provide a sense of quiet movement to the composition, not only through space but through time as well.

Golland’s art delights and captivates the viewer with its elegance and sensuality. Each painting is an invitation to the viewer to connect with its flow, powerful energy, and the spirit within. Though highly refined, his simple compositions provoke reflections not only on spatial relationships, but also on transcendence, the ungraspability of the moment and the sorrow of its passing. Like them we find ourselves poised on the delicate balance of joy and sorrow that is our life.

Michael Golland studied Engineering and Industrial Design and worked as a Design Director for several international companies before devoting himself to art making. As an accomplished painter and sculptor Golland has lived, worked and exhibited in England, Italy, Mexico, Canada and the USA. He currently maintains a studio in Toronto, and his work can be found in numerous private collections around the world.
www.michaelgolland.blogspot.ca