Simon Withers

Since the beginning of 1997, I have returned to a form of painting that I first experimented with in 1991. In those first experiments I began by using drawing ink and acrylic paint to create images by folding the paint or ink in-between sheets of paper. This method can be traced to professor HERMAN RORSCHACH and his development of the inkblot test for use in assessment procedures during psychological testing. The Rorschach technique is one of the better-known methods of testing and is referred to as a PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUE. It has been described as, ‘an instrument that is considered especially sensitive to covert or unconscious aspects of behaviour.’ (Introducing Psychology, an experimental approach. D.S.Wright, Ann Taylor. 1970.)

A Multi-Fold painting may be folded many times. The paint is folded, squashed and manipulated through the back of the canvas; by hand, fist, finger and foot. Sometimes it is only the weight of the folded canvas itself that determines the outcome of the marks. The physical process is one of torture; I torture paint. It has to be oil paint on canvas. A painting may be stretched and re-stretched during the process of evaluation. The operation is under constant review. The strong personal traits of the Multi-Fold are diverse. The judicious combination of searching and finding produces a series of works that run parallel to the central theory and practice of the process.