A fresh look at process
- John Reid
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read

My work investigates the unexpected opening of space and the sense of wonder that arises in such moments. I am drawn to the chemistry that occurs when perceived boundaries no longer exist.
This sudden expansion invites a different kind of consciousness—one that is less constrained, more porous, more attuned to possibility. In these moments, the mind becomes unbound, able to explore and imagine with greater freedom. I see this as both an aesthetic and psychological act: creating environments where wonder can arise, and where the viewer’s sense of limitation begins to dissolve.
Through my work, I seek to create a reaction that allows space, thought, and perception to unfold in unexpected directions…a space where one can explore and embrace one’s own totality.
As a painter, I endeavour to operate from a place of rawness—where only truth is acceptable. This is not a space of turmoil, but one of clarity, where nothing is diluted to fit expectation or trend. It is a space where compromise cannot enter, and where the work must come from instinct, not calculation.
My process is not about constructing an image, but about uncovering what already exists beneath the surface—emotion, memory, silence, presence. Painting, for me, is an act of revelation. I do not begin with a message or a concept, but with a sense—a tension, a rhythm, a need. The canvas becomes a field of confrontation and release, where the work emerges not through control, but through surrender to the moment.
I am not interested in making something beautiful in the traditional sense. I am interested in what is real, even if it is uncomfortable, even if it unsettles me. The textures, marks, and gestures in my work are direct translations of internal states—they carry the residue of the body, the breath, the unspoken.
In this way, painting becomes not just a medium, but a necessity. It allows me to stay close to what matters: the honest, unpolished, and often quiet truths that are so easily buried in the noise of the world. My commitment is to remain in that space—to return to it again and again—because it is the only place where the work can truly live.
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