Eric Cruikshank, born in Inverness in 1975, has worked as an artist since graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in 1997, and is based at WASPS Patriothall studios in Edinburgh. A recipient of several awards, Cruikshank’s work has been exhibited throughout Europe, America and Asia, with the upcoming exhibition at Galleri Konstepidemin being the first time his work will have been shown in Sweden.

Artist Statement. My art works are made up of multiple thin layers of medium that explore contemporary landscape through proportion and perception, in intimate works that are both minimal and sensual in feel. The resulting pieces are dedicated to the medium of colour and its visual as well as spatial properties, free from any apparent narrative reference. The pictures are usually completed and presented in series and characterized by a delicate smooth surface that holds the gentlest trace of form and shape that expands out from or recedes into the picture’s surface, refocusing colour as a sense of place and time relating to the shifting light and colour of the sky and landscape. The paintings present the result of a long process characterized by permanent reviews and modifications, where different hues are combined creating depth and volume, subtle shades, hints of highlight; forming a plane which is slowly revealed to the viewer to be anything but static as the picture gently builds with a subtle visual rhythm.

ericcruikshank.com

Michael Craik was born in Edinburgh in 1972 and has worked as an artist in Scotland for the last 20 years. He divides his time between painting, gardening, and being a father and is based at Sea Loft studio in the village of Kinghorn. A recipient of several awards, Craik’s work has been exhibited throughout Europe and is represented in several private collections in the UK. This exhibition with Eric Cruikshank is his first exhibition in Sweden and he is delighted to present this new body of work at Konstepidemin.

Artist Statement. My practice explores the interplay of colour and engages the act of repetition as a tool for introspection and creation. For this exhibition I have made a series of monochromatic watercolours on paper, which are produced by overlaying several washes of paint, to create densely pigmented blocks of colour. The paper is then submerged into water, creating translucent veils of colour that flow across the surface. In this way, the elemental qualities of the paint are allowed to determine the appearance of each work, creating contemplative, minimal paintings and continuing a theme of reduction, that pervades my practice. The application and removal of paint is a process that features throughout my work, representing the passage of time and alluding to forces of erosion that form our landscape. My studio in Kinghorn, Fife, stands on a cliff overlooking River Forth Estuary as it merges into the North Sea. Surrounded by this expanse of water I observe the endless ebb and flow of the tide, and I am aware that the need to represent the passage of time has permeated my practice through this connection.

michaelcraik.com

The Relative Medium is a joint exhibition by contemporary Scottish artists Michael Craik and Eric Cruikshank. Both are abstract painters who have developed their practice over the last 20 years; refining their process, where colour, form, and material quality have become the primary focus of their art. This is a quiet exhibition, its silence matched by the pace of the work, inviting the viewer to slow down and see past the deceptive simplicity of the art displayed; an opportunity to contemplate two distinctly unique yet interconnected approaches that build upon a tradition of monochrome painting and offer a fresh contemporary perspective on Scottish abstract painting. Craik and Cruikshank have established a productive working relationship that began in 2013 and The Relative Medium will be the first opportunity for both artists to present their work in Sweden. For the exhibition at Galleri Konstepidemin the focus will be works on paper, including coloured pencil drawings, watercolours, oil and mixed media.