Peter Dixon
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“Mystical”... “Spiritual”... are some of the responses to my work. But, I am not a mysterious person. For me the work is about the edges of seeing and the way an image appears or reappears on the periphery of an edge. In my paintings I use oil paint and transparent glazes because of the sensitive quality of the medium and the nuances of value I can achieve. My work is color, light and shadow, and value relationships that are in and about the square. Focusing on the square eliminates any vertical or horizontal elements or narrative suggestions. The subject is deceptively simple. One shape diffuses into its background allowing another to move to the foreground in a soft shift of color and value. I like the subtle way the relationship of foreground and background changes as one looks at the painting. The “atmospheric,” “mystical” movement is created by the eyes’ optical journey through the work.