RETURN

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Looking at Marion Piper’s paintings where the geometric and the provisional co-exist, I’m reminded of the fantastic Agnes Martin quote “the paintings are very far from being perfect – completely removed in fact – even as we are ourselves”

 

Piper’s paintings possess delicate surfaces emerging out of various working methodologies that have evolved in her studio over the years. Her choice of materials, colours and the compositions unlock what initially appears geometric into intuitive explorations of the unexpected which incorporate geometric principles.

 

A fascination for ancient and modern architecture alongside pattern is evident in all her compositions. However, they are not uniform and reveal, on closer inspection, gestural application on grounds that possess a shadowy presence?

 

Her new body of work, made with this beautiful venue in mind, invite the viewer to engage in a correspondence with the context without sacrificing their individual characteristics and are flooded with clarity and a visceral physicality.

 

The colours in Piper’s work are at once engaging and deceptive, especially with the spatial and optical dynamics that they offer. Her use of shapes such as half circle forms are never repetitive due to this. Colour and layered forms reveal contrasting qualities and are used to great effect in opening or squeezing space into new configurations that engage brilliantly with negative space but begin to dissolve as soon as you start to recognise something familiar. They are tactile, almost acoustic, hovering between a dream and reality?

 

The role of drawing is also critical in how the paintings arrive and always apparent in pencil lines on the surfaces. This allows the viewer access to the source or the first phase of the painting, a puzzle that the viewer can put back together through the constructed methods, full of nuance and potent spectacle, that Piper continues to employ.

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Danny Rolph 

April 2025