Free Admission

“I used to meditate until I learned to stop thinking.”

Agnes Martin, Interviewed by Chuck Smith and Sono Kuwayama, 1997

Gillanders’ work occupies a shifting position on the spectrum between representation’s illusion of volume and space and the flatness of hard-edge abstraction. Having long addressed the problem of perception, David Gillanders features paintings that embrace the gap between the world and the idea we make of it.

David Gillanders’s practice is grounded in a response to the instability and complexity of contemporary life. As global events unfold with increasing urgency, ranging from political unrest and economic disparity to environmental degradation, his work reflects a sense of fragmentation that mirrors our collective reality. Rather than offering resolution, the images he creates are intended to hold space for contradiction, nuance, confusion, and the disorientation that defines the present moment.

This recent body of work developed from an interest in the physical infrastructure of electrical systems, such as transformers, turbines, and transmission lines. These objects, rooted in nineteenth-century technology, are visually compelling and suggestive of larger systems of control and dependency. What began as a study of energy networks and the transition to electrification evolved into a broader reflection on dysfunction. In the context of increasing global conflict and cultural instability, these machines became metaphors for systems that appear functional but are breaking down.

Gillanders has consistently explored themes of accumulation, fragmentation, and visual overload. These strategies are central to earlier series such as Ballast and The Garden and continue to inform the current approach. The work's chaotic piles and convoluted forms represent a world marked by complexity, contradiction, and systemic failure.

Although informed by research and cultural observation, the artist’s process is primarily intuitive. Meaning emerges through the act of making, allowing the work to evolve unexpectedly and remain open to interpretation. The resulting compositions are deliberately constructed to provoke questions about power, disorder, and how we visually process the chaos of the world around us.