Before the image
The ritual
Every work begins before the subject has a name.
Coffee on the table. Tools within reach. The surface is built, scraped and rebuilt. The repetition is not preparation for the work; it is part of the work.
I do not begin by forcing an image onto the canvas. I return to the surface until one mark creates tension. In The First Signal, the fluorescent yellow arrived first. The bull followed.
That order matters. The image is not placed on the surface. It is discovered through it.