Stewart Swan’s latest series marks a looser and more instinctive departure from his previous body of work. Working directly onto aged antique paper, without preparatory drawings or fixed compositions, Swan allows each painting to develop through energetic mark-making, revision and chance. The character of the paper becomes an integral part of the work, its worn and weathered surface providing a textured ground for figures to emerge, shift and disappear.
The series draws on the rough and ready textures of Glasgow, particularly the industrial surroundings of Swan’s studio. Surfaces, walls and materials found within this environment inform the physical quality of the paintings, while the city’s humour and character find their way into the figures themselves. The result is a group of wandering characters, strange encounters and hallucinated forms that feel more immediate and spontaneous than his earlier work.
‘Taps Aff’ is a playful reference to the Glaswegian phrase, describing the moment when the sun appears and shirts are promptly abandoned, regardless of the temperature. Every figure is topless, a nod to this phenomenon. Rather than belonging to a particular narrative or mythology, these figures exist somewhere between instinct and invention, brought together through gesture, colour and personality.
By working quickly and allowing the paintings to surprise him, Swan has embraced a greater sense of freedom within his process. Marks are left visible, forms remain unresolved and figures seem to develop organically across the surface, resulting in works that capture the spontaneity, humour and rough-edged energy of their surroundings.
