A painting by Mike Staniford depicts tall, slender trees with yellow-green and brown foliage under a light blue sky. The trees are densely packed, with trunks in warm shades of brown and yellow. The ground is light green and tan.

Mike Staniford - Contemporary Australian Artist

I am fascinated by the space between figuration and abstraction. The tree paintings begin with recognisable forms, but are shaped by colour, light and atmosphere. The geometric landscapes move further away from representation, yet remain grounded in the physical experience of place and the initial act of drawing. Neither direction is separate from the other. Both are ways of thinking through paint.