Telos 2012

Darren Waterston made this painting, Telos, with thin washes, allowing the pigment to settle into the weave of the canvas. The result is like looking through a telescope or microscope – a landscape that could be an alien planet or a drop of pond water. The central area is kept deliberately vague. There's an intense glow, like a half-remembered dream, which is surrounded by more clearly defined forms. The sepia tones lend a surreal, historical atmosphere to the piece, as if it was an early photograph or a faded memory. Look at the textures around the edge, how the dark pigment bleeds and pools into irregular shapes. It reminds me of Piranesi's etchings of imaginary prisons – dark and fantastical, but also oddly beautiful. Waterston seems interested in a similar play of light and shadow, order and chaos. Like all good art, this piece holds many possibilities, and it's up to us to find our own meaning in its depths.