Paul Cole’s practice is guided by the principle he is ‘airing my dirty linen’. The paintings are private exchanges between himself and the surface, made public. Cole began this series of paintings working on fitted bedsheets hence the supports with their rounded corners. The sheets have gone but the shape remains giving them their unique physical form, but principally, they provide the conceptual framework for the paintings. The paintings are abstract and open ended but hold the dialogue of deep conversation, this is reflected in each of the works title, being an overheard quote of a conversation heard by the artist.
Through the development of his practice the paintings have become more process driven. Cole works in layers of one colour at a time. Each layer is a response to the drawing and colour laid before. It is an exchange between the painting surface and himself. Though considered, the layers are not fully formed in advance. They are unrehearsed and fluid like a conversation between two people. The paintings are heaving worked, with Cole practising various painterly techniques. Large brushstrokes of abstraction are matched with aggressive mark-making, mirroring many aspects of conversation held between persons. Elements of undefined figuration reveal themselves in the work, allowing for the notion of conversation within the frame to be further brought to attention.
The spontaneous method of making leads to a process of trial and error, many of the works have been through various forms, each stage emended within the deep layers of paint. Yet, not all of the works are made public, it is these “failed” painting which make up Cole’s sculptures practice. Holding the frustrations of that work which never could come to be. Old paint-splattered clothes and shoes of the artist and the canvas itself serve as a relic to that challenging time spent fighting for the complete composition within the painting, which all artists strive for.