About

To explain his work, Neville Paine volunteers a musical reference.

“One can take pleasure in listening to Mozart without applying intellect. But, if one is a musician, the intellect comes into play, and the consequent ‘pleasure’ is more profound.”

Hence, Neville Paine’s ‘tableaux’ can be read on several levels; the representation (the arrangement of composition and colour), but when examining the discreet ‘signs/symbols’ which pierce his works, a more complete reading is revealed.

He explains further with another ‘pirouette’ musical. “As in Mozart, I admit to trying to evoke a certain grace in the compositions, but I lean towards the atonality, the deconstruction and reconstruction provoked by Schoenberg.”

Concerning his ‘pictorial’ preferences, Neville Paine explains that, “If the zen of Rothko touches me spiritually, I am also influenced by the ‘literary’ aspects of Goya’s work”.

The technical ability of Neville Paine enables him to break down the frontier between figuration and abstraction without hinderance to his concepts.

Sam Gusman©
interview with Neville Paine 2008