Moment

SAM LOCK
JULY 2021

“Given the nature of Lock’s work, with its lexicon of abstract signs, it is perhaps unsurprising to learn of his fascination with the capabilities and parameters of written language. In discussion he cites his great admiration for the dramatic works of Beckett and Pinter. He describes his interest in the way the force of their writing depends not only upon what is said, but also from its deployment of silences, of that which goes unspoken, both within and between the elliptical lines of their monologues and dialogues. Both Beckett and Pinter were deeply informed by the existentialism of the post-WWII world, a philosophical enquiry that raised urgent questions about the nature of humanity, of alienation and identity, all of which form an underlying current in their work. And one sees how Lock has himself taken up these notions of the ambiguity of meaning and silence within his own painterly language, in an ongoing exploration of the ways in which mark and interval might be iterated on canvas and paper.

Compositionally, his paintings range from works of great spatial and textural complexity, to those of minimalist restraint, indicative of his understanding of the power of understatement. Such moderation applies also to a palette in which whites and blacks often predominate, their expressive potential given full rein. There are also blues, amongst them a woad-like indigo, and greenish blues reminiscent of verdigris, sometimes glazed thinly in dark umber so that they take on the patina of antique bronze.” - Dr Ian Massey 2020