Scorpio Series 1, No. 4

Lynne Green writes on Barns-Graham's Scorpio Series, 'The sequence of works on paper that dominate the latter half of the 1990s carry the generic title, Scorpio Series (there are three consecutive groups with this title with the present work being an early example). These suites of gestural, abstract images, in which bold brushstrokes carry saturated colour, were initiated in Barns-Graham's response to frustration. Having spent three hours being interviewed by a critic, she received a phone call reporting that the tape-recorder had failed to work - the interview would have to be repeated. It had been a tough, exhausting few hours, answering in depth questions on her life and work. Barns-Graham was very upset: more painting time would be lost, and she felt she could ill afford the disruption. Her answer was to throw herself furiously into her work. Using acrylic paints on paper she rapidly produced the first of what became the Scorpio Series: the title was 'encouraged', she says, by the month (November) and its star sign - particuarly apt, she felt, because it has a sting in its tail. Always cautious of explicit titles that define or restrict the reading of her work, the artist tends to name work, if not for the initial inspiration, then in response to the resonance the finished image has for her: the association, feeling or visual sensation it generates' (see L. Green, W. Barns- Graham A Studio Life, Aldershot, 2001, pp.225-226).

In the present work the brushstroke is broad and fine, fast and slow, overlapping, obscured, separate, strident and discreet. Barns-Graham's ability to work with both hands generates a unique vibration.