Gray's School of Art, 2016
Toni Harrower's work is beset with mathematical experiments in colour, composition, and scale. Within her systematic restraints and rules, the physicality of paint is allowed to gloriously resurface. Colours merge, layers build up, and Harrower's initial grid plans are both rescinded and accentuated. The passing of time becomes a creative form of its own – a process tangentially informed by her research into dementia and memory deterioration. In 2024, two paintings were included in the Visual Arts Scotland centenary exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy, plus two in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.
My paintings follow a 'system' and a set of restraints that determine colour, composition and scale. Working from a colour-coded alphabet, the titles for each painting are extremely important as they are the starting point for making. Working in a repetitious manner, I create individual patterns and repeated geometric shapes which form a grid-like structure. The build-up of layers expresses the passing of time. As the paint gains depth and weight, gravity and a lack of control come into play, causing the paint to fall away. The paintings relate to uncontrollable events that happen in life – and several imply the notion of the mind falling apart.
