Constructing Paradise no. 3 2012

Darren Waterston seems to have conjured this ethereal landscape from thin air with translucent layers of oil. It's a place of drifting horizons and ambiguous depth, a paradise both found and imagined. I see Waterston, in his studio, patiently coaxing these ghostly trees and watery skies into being. There's a push-and-pull between control and chance. The paint looks thin, almost like watercolor washes, allowing for these hazy, dreamlike effects. Then those drips – unexpected guests crashing the party, adding a touch of the uncanny. The high-key palette reminds me of Whistler's nocturnes, those moody, atmospheric scenes. I can sense a kindred spirit at play. Waterston's paradise is not static. It's a fluid, ever-shifting space where reality and illusion blur, and where he, like all painters, invites us to lose ourselves in the act of seeing.