Exposed Painting, Light Grey on White

‘Six or seven years ago my work was figurative. I felt that the paintings had so much of myself in them that it was absolutely clear what l was feeling when l made them. I wanted to keep that distance so I could look at the paintings on a reflective plane, and other people could also. For a while there was a need for a lot of artists to keep a distance from their work, but actually I enjoy it when people do realise that there’s some of you in it, and that it’s not just a process painting. Because then it is just a process painting to me. In my work there is also something emotional, perhaps slightly spiritual going on in the canvases, especially the white ones. I just didn’t want them to be completely self-evident’ (C. Innes, quoted in Callum Innes. In Conversation, Frieze Issue 2, November - December 1991).