Rawlinson has established an abstract painting practice working primarily with oil on canvas. He uses abstraction as a vehicle to examine and explore the ineffable, and connect, emotionally with the audience. He is concerned with mark making and how the materiality of the paint and its application can communicate something of our place in the world focusing on both the individual and collective experience how we relate to our natural surroundings. 

 

The work is in thrall to Abstract Expressionism and draws upon ideas of Existentialism and Phenomenology, which is implemented through a refined and focused abstract language that provokes tension within his paintings. The pre-Socratic philosopher, Heraclitus of Ephesus, wrote ‘That which is in opposition is in concert, and from things that differ comes the most beautiful harmony’ and has grown of great importance to how he approaches painting as difference and harmony become key features of his works. The paintings are, in essence, a site of contemplation, of our place in the world and our relationship to the natural spaces we inhabit.

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