Salt, 2018, oil on canvas, 170cm x 170cm
This is one of Robert Dunt's "Distortion Form" paintings. These paintings are inspired by music, and in particular the band the Jesus and Mary Chain. Robert was influenced by paintings that explored colour such as the works by Monet, Matisse and Jackson Pollock. But he did not just want to recreate these paintings and so began looking at a way of using colour in a more contemporary context.
The Jesus and Mary Chain wrote pretty "Beach Boys" like pop songs but then covered them with noise and distortion and feedback. In a similar fashion Robert painted ‘pretty’ colourful paintings and then covered them with black and white "Distortion Forms", a visual metaphor for the noise and distortion used by the Jesus and Mary Chain.
Though inspired by music these paintings are firmly rooted in the visual, and work on making original colour combinations. The paintings also reference the act of seeing, the freneticism of some sections of the paintings referencing visual experiences such as looking at, and through, the branches of tress as they shake in the wind. Like all Robert's paintings the aim is to give the viewer greater visual pleasure of the the world and the colours they see in it.
The title is a play on the phrase 'Salt of the Earth'. Robert thought the painting had an earthy colour feel to it. But the title Salt also refers to the purity of colour, intention and visual effect the painting has.
