David Rycroft’s compositions, the results of an innovative technique, evoke the pristine beauty and majestic grace of nature. The materials, oil on paper, are traditional, but the technique of sweeping the paper over liquid paint - using natural processes rather than brushes - is new. This technique gives these ‘unpainted’ paintings an arresting purity and naturalness.

As with Zen calligraphy, and also Romanticism, these paintings are not really about natural forms or exterior space, but about the possibility of pure and spacious states of mind. The importance of colour and gesture has its roots in Abstract Expressionism, but this is infused with an introspective, spiritual dimension akin to that of Anish Kapoor.

Compositional Format
There are two main compositional formats; vertical axis and horizontal axis. The vertical axis paintings are suggestive of flames, flowers or bodily details, and communicate an intimacy and warmth. The horizontal axis paintings reflect the vastness of space, like gazing into an open landscape, inviting the viewer towards an open, spacious state of mind.

These paintings may be harmonious and easy on the eye, but they also go beyond this : their subtly surreal, or unreal, edge is an open answer to the questioning viewer.

Key Themes : Naturalness and Purity
These paintings are the fruit of natural processes: rather than painting a picture of nature, the artist joins in with nature. There’s a spontaneity and effortlessness in which the artist, the process and the image merge into one movement, resulting in an image of ‘unfabricated’ beauty.
‘Pure’ means that there is no hesitation and no readjustment. Inevitably, in this spirit there is a percentage of work that is discarded. But that's fine, because what remains has a freshness and authenticity that cannot be imitated.

Artistic Process
The oil paint mixture is poured onto a flat, polished surface. The paper is then pulled, face down, across the paint. On lifting the paper, an area of colour remains. This is not a straight block of colour; there are areas which are less dense and the white ground of the paper comes through. This variation of tone creates the impression of sculptural depth. Then another colour is added, repeating a similar process. There can be anything from two to twelve such layers in a finished painting.