Using wood panel as a substrate for me has come about for a few different reasons. Some aesthetic and some practical. The first time I saw Manuel Ocampo’s art it burned a hole in my mind. It must have been around 1997-1998? The influence of his work on my approach is huge.
Manuel Ocampo
Ocampo works on canvas as well as wood panel. But I always had a soft spot for the pieces on found board with visible wear throughout. I also love the way paint looks on wood. The paint can be both built up or left thin with some of the texture showing through. To me, when I paint on wood I feel the symbols that are being displayed take centre stage instead of the application of paint. I have a tendency when working on canvas to think more about the paint application.
I couldn’t write about this topic without highlighting the power of Thom Devita’s works on wood.
There is a thread that runs through all of these influences that speaks of devotional art. This is art that I understand. I never finished high school and if I’m honest a lot of modern art goes over my head. But I find this art speaks to me. I really enjoy seeing work made by people that are compelled to create with anything they can get their hands on.
Working on wood solves a lot of issues for me. I don’t have to worry about stretching and mounting. I can hard mount my own frames, add 3d elements and create assemblages. But there has been one persistent problem so far that been annoying me. The issue of size. Large boards are prone to warping and are super impractical to ship. I want to work on some large scale pieces but till now I just assumed id have to do those works on canvas. I think now though there is a solution.
Tom Gerrards studio and works.
Yesterday I visited my friend Tom Gerrard’s studio in Prahran and bought up this issue. He gave me a very simple, elegant solution to this. I actually feel pretty stupid that I hadn’t thought of it myself. The idea is making the works modular. Attaching the boards together so they can hung as one but disassembled for shipping and storage. This is a game changer for me. Thanks Tom. So keep an eye out for some larger works on wood coming soon. Im pumped.
June 2025