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Ever since Lucio Fontana first sliced through canvas, the relationship between the surface of a painting and what lies beneath has been open for examination.

Tom Henderson's latest exhibition continues his own exploration of the relationship between the surface of a work of art and the object that supports it. His new works are a subtle combination of painting and sculpture that use light and colour to transcend disciplines.

Through complex construction processes and the use of diverse materials like acrylic panels, paint, resin and rubber, the work expands two-dimensional surfaces into three-dimensional space. Each panel's multi-layered picture plane sits delicately between the perceived, the transparent and the opaque, challenging the viewer's ability to deduce the spatial arrangements, demanding a scrutiny that would usually be reserved for freestanding sculpture.

Tom Henderson studied Fine Art at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne from 1994 - 1998. Since then he has worked in TV, film and most recently publishing, amongst other.

Audio Paintings

These works come from a larger series, which has been developing over the last twelve months. At its heart is a specific relationship with raw materials, namely audio and video tape and the abstract representation of information. In short, the project seeks to make the audio visual. However, in doing this, a number of other issues are raised, in particular the way in which the work interacts with traditions of Minimalism, contemporary design, and discussions about contemporary art.

The stripe is a long established feature of Minimalist practice: the works of Bridget Riley, Frank Stella and Agnes Martin are just a few examples. My work is clearly influenced by such figures, though one feature that complicates this reading is that my works are three-dimensional. Minimalist painters often use the stripe to explore spatial relationships on a two-dimensional plane, but my works are in fact sculptures that require physical interaction. Though they are mounted on the wall with evident painterly qualities they are tangible objects that occupy real space. The patterns of the arrangements and reflections create unique rhythms that can only be experienced physically, to the extent that the plane of the tape and the edges of the sculpture are as intriguing as the optic face.

One of the problems in making such work is that many of the revolutionary aspects of Minimalism have been absorbed by contemporary interior design, with little acknowledgment of the conceptual underpinnings of such practice. In using audio and video tape, I am, to a certain extent acknowledging this irony, and by arranging relatively twentieth century technology with binary and digital connotations I hope to reference what are, at least in terms of discussions of contemporary art, both defunct and cutting edge forms of practice.

There are other reasons for using such specific magnetic tape. As a technology it is used to store data: it is designed to record sounds and images. Sound though is the most abstract of products - it's intangible and unable to be touched or held. However by using tape as a formal material I can deny its function and reduce audio to the purely visual, making sound tangible, while simultaneously acknowledging the Information Age in which we live.

These works are the end-result of a long process of refining a relationship with particular traditions and materials. Their ultimate irony is that their sparseness, their seeming lack of content, throws up so many tensions.