As part of my forest-based work, I sourced some rounds of oak from the keepers of Epping Forest, the ancient woodland that borders my home and studio in east London. I seasoned and shaped them, and used them to make a series of small painted ‘objects’. The grain of this 200 year old tree becomes part of this painted landscape, with the contours of the wood determining which part of my painting stays on the surface and which elements are removed.

Matthew Webber

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Matthew Webber’s experimental abstract paintings are created over a period of weeks, months, even years, with the artist systematically applying paint until a dense slab of layered pigment and texture is formed, ready for his process of ‘unpainting’ to begin. Gradually, as this painted surface is removed, the artist slowly uncovers an intricate network of colour and contours buried within. This is painting as archaeology: the story of each piece is minutely revealed - complex and unique - emerging like marble from a hand-painted block. Inspired by the landscape – particularly the liminal spaces where nature and humanity collide – Webber’s paintings attempt to capture the increasingly unpredictable processes and events which shape the natural world. Living and working in East London for the past 25 years, Webber has exhibited widely in the UK. His work is held in numerous private collections.