PARTICULAS J

Watkins’ mixed-media work exists as a physical record of both his bodily exertions and extended subconscious journeys, narrated by layer upon layer of energetic mark-making that embraces both primal and childlike sensibilities. Returning to the same surface over extended periods of time: scraping, sanding, abandoning, adding and subtracting allows the disclosure of subtle variations where the surface develops unique histories and unpredictable interactions. With traces from the past still visible in the present, Watkins exposes previous versions of the paintings and himself, with his work taking on an archaeological attitude, both to the surface of his paintings and his subconscious– perhaps a metaphor for the forgotten stories and sensory information that lies beneath the surface of our everyday states of mind.

Through this exhibition, Watkins challenges the idea of paradise, long associated with something external, somewhere to travel to, a physical destination. In doing so, the observing eyes placed throughout his paintings turn inwards and speak of an integrated vision of reality, as he considers the birth of paradise as something that begins in one’s own mind. This approach maintains that we are not passive observers of the natural world, but are a part of it– intimately linked to the rhythms of infinite systems, both internal and external, the comprehension of which may forever lie beyond rational thought, in the realm of mystery and sensation.

JAMES WATKINS (b. 1984, Oxford) grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and currently lives and works in Mexico City. He has lived and exhibited internationally in London, Paris, Sydney, Melbourne & Istanbul. + Read less