The New Paintings are presented here as work in progress. This work serves as a continuum of my experimentation into the dycotomy of Abstraction vs realism in painting. The subject matter was chosen inorder to encourage a dialogue between human nature and the nature of the sublime. Is there a difference ?

The work uses photography as a departure for a point of view that amalgamates abstract shapes into the body of a collective whole. Each section of the painting could be looked at as an attempt to describe something that is uniquely human while each shape further subdivides that individusalism untill it becomes a pattern supportive of the mass. The tension between the individual and the crowd is resolved by the viewers own choice to see to see the patterns either subjectively or objectively.

The work is in paint and ink on canvas because I choose to uphold it's status in the continuing dialogue of what is and what isn't art. The physical at of applying paint to a suface makes it what it is. It's ability to transend that limitation is it's"Art" .

"An Image is in essence a slice of flux, for niether the world or the imagination ever stands still. But within that slice there is always a suggestion of a relationship with all other slices. It is the strength of the suggestion that determines it's quality"

Crowd One Oil and ink on Canvas 100cm x 70cm

Marc St Aubin began painting in the 70's burying himself in the art rooms of the various schools he attended while moving with his family between the militery establishments that his father worked at. He found a particular solis in the process of applying paint to canvas that satisfied his need of expression outside the difficult social position that the army lifestyle imposed.

He drew inspiration from his mothers numerous books on Canadian art which he constantly referenced to find a style that suited his desire for expression. The Group of Seven and particularly Lauren Harris served as a basis for the graphic style employed in his early work.

Upon leaving home and continuing to travel the next major influence came from Europe where he lived for the next twenty years of his life. The galleries of Europe allowed him to sudy closely the paintings of the masters. The effect was profound and immediate. The change that resulted was a more expressionistic and painterly approach. This influence can be seen clearly the 80's and early 90's paintings of People and Buildings.

In the mid nineties he made the decision to seek further education and took a degree at the University of Westminster, London England. The concerns of the "Art World" had up to this point not played a large part in informing his pratice and it was not long before the tension between theory and practice forced Marc into new and different approachs. The beginning of which was manifest in Cloud Suite Other Art. and Homage to Bacon

His work had been mainly figurative up to this point idea of abstraction began to both intrigue and facsinate. The Chaos Paintings signaled the beginning of a period of experimentation that led to a completly new philosophy and practice. Incorperating varoius media he began a study of how abstraction relates the reality.

Using the surface of water as subject matter through both Photography and paint (Diptych) Marc experimented with ways to somehow equate the abstract design that exists in the reality of the elements . Combining this with the practice of pouring and dripping The Wave Series was produced which in turn led to Diptych and Photography