forget-me-not

In Harrison Armstrong’s paintings, familiar situations gradually begin to shift. A figure, a gesture, a room, at first everything seems recognisable, yet something is slightly off. The everyday takes on another charge. A simple scene becomes loaded with tension, humour and uncertainty, as if something has happened or is about to happen.

Armstrong begins with drawings that he develops into large-scale oil paintings. The drawing provides a starting point, but the image changes through the act of painting. Postures shift, gestures become ambiguous and spaces acquire a sense of uncertainty. The paint itself cannot be completely controlled. Chance, movement and material become part of the process.

This tension between control and letting go runs throughout the exhibition. Motifs return, but never in exactly the same way. A figure may seem familiar and then suddenly feel strange. A space that first appears safe can take on an uneasy quality. Armstrong deliberately leaves parts of the story outside the frame. What came before and what follows remain open.

The paintings move between observation and invention, recognition and estrangement. They recall situations from everyday life, but do not settle there. A glance, a posture or a small detail can shift the entire scene.

forget-me-not refers to that small moment when something changes, not necessarily visibly, but perceptibly. The moment when an image loses its sense of certainty and another possibility begins to appear.

Armstrong does not give the viewer a story to follow. He gives enough to hold on to, and just enough to doubt. What takes place within the paintings therefore remains in constant motion.