It has been a great privilege and a great pleasure to be asked to select work for this years Discerning Eye exhibition.

I was an invited artist myself some years ago when Steven Tumin asked me to show, so I feel a little like poacher turned gamekeeper.

My original idea was to theme the selection quite tightly around certain issues which are currently preoccupying me in my own practice. I am increasingly involved in an enquiry into what can best be described as the area where geometry meets biology; with particular reference to the patterns and variations that nature produces on what is essentially a mathematical theme of possible forms.

Once I began to look around for other people working in this general area I was delighted to find so many really good artists concerned with the similar issues of form and pattern.

My selection ranges from established artists with international reputations like Susan Derges who I hope will be able to show her revelatory video work entitled 'Hermetica'; to unknown artists like Caroline Harkink who will be showing her astonishing and beautiful minute wire constructions. Also included in my selection are a number of artists inspired by the complex geometric pattern found in Islamic art and architecture.

When it came to selecting from the open submission which involved looking at an enormous number of works in a huge variety of materials and idioms, my initial ideas of theming the show went rather by the board. I began by trying to choose work which loosely related to that of the invited artists but soon realised that I would have to widen my criteria in order not to miss some really exciting work and it was gratifying to realise how often several of the selectors wanted to choose the same pieces.

It has been a hugely enjoyable process which I would not have missed and as a result I have been introduced to the work of some really talented artists previously unknown to me.

 

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