Martin Finnin works instinctively. Every step in the progress of a painting is a response suggested by the painting itself:
“Paint is its own boss...sometimes it’s better just to observe how it wants to be...colours and shapes emerge and if they work they stay, if not they are wiped away. This process can continue for months, sometimes years”.
The struggle is over when every element of the canvas feels right, each playing its part in the whole and yet maintaining a sense of spontaneity and immediacy, “a freshness that needs to be captured at the right time then left untouched, a moment when everything is in balance”.
He started work on The Age of Disposable Thumbs in 2018 while living in Berlin, continuing to paint throughout the 2020 lockdown, which saw him creating from a tiny makeshift studio nestled in the garden of his home in Ireland. The painting was completed in May 2021.
The sculptural elements and the sense of perspective are influenced by his enduring interest in the Italian Renaissance painters, in particular masterpieces such as The Battle of San Romano by Uccello. Finnin often rotates the canvas or takes it off the easel to paint while it's flat on the ground. The resulting multi-directional flow of drips and brushstrokes charges the perspective with further depth.
The colours of spring invaded the garden around his studio and jumped into this painting, bringing with them the use of cherry blossom pinks, scented yellows and the sculpted emerald-green leaf shapes. This nod towards nature marks a pivot from Finnin's fondness for urban landscapes, colours and textures.