Flagship 1961

Thomas Sills made this untitled painting with pigmented paper collage on canvas. I love the boldness of the colour and the feeling of the shapes. It's like he's juggling these flat forms, figuring out how they can sit together, which ones can overlap or touch without making the whole thing fall apart. You can almost feel Sills moving them around, trying different arrangements until it feels right. The red, green, and yellow aren't just colours here, they’re like actors on a stage, each with its own personality. The yellows create a vibration across the surface, which adds energy to the composition and makes it shimmer! I bet Sills wanted the colour to take centre stage and communicate something about his feelings. I can relate to that. It’s all a kind of conversation between Sills and the history of painting. He makes a connection between abstract and figurative painting, inviting the viewer to join in.