Phil Barrett ponders constantly on the creative process. Ultimately though, he gives himself up to an intuitive understanding, trusting the voice that he hears and allowing it to speak with both integrity and commitment.
His drawings seem initially to offer up ‘blackness’, but on closer scrutiny they reveal hidden layers, glimpses of what was, or of what might be. Though highly structured, there is a sense of searching or groping for, revealing or recognising, something familiar (or is it unfamiliar?) in the darkness.
The sculptural work celebrates the qualities of timber, and the simplest tools and processes with which it can be cut and shaped. The resulting forms do not give us a clear narrative or meaning, but provoke us to seek our own connections with the work, through association, memory and imagination.
In an increasingly complex and highly manufactured world, Phil’s is a voice that strips away the noise, and, if we take the time to look and listen, connects us with the slower revolutions nearer to the centre of things.

Phil Barrett will be working on a large-scale painting in the gallery, during the course of the exhibition.