Michael Staniak - Natural Order

As we voyage deeper into an age of dual environments - the physical and the virtual - Staniak’s textured paintings highlight the phenomena of both realms. The tromp l’oeil effect ensures a variety of visual interpretations: the viewer’s position, either on or offline, affects the subsequent experience. When the paintings are viewed on the screen, the texture is emphasised; when viewed physically they seem flat, like a digital print or a backlit screen. His paintings are reminiscent of cosmic topographies viewed by satellite imaging, or microscopic surfaces blown up to macro levels. Looking at Staniak’s pieces is like entering an uncharted environment: one where lithic surfaces have been imprinted by time and the elements, until a gently undulating surface remains.

In his latest exhibition, Natural Order, Staniak focuses on how technology can be used to make sense of the myriad of capricious information that is readily available online. Having to navigate this virtual landscape poses many new challenges, like entering a strange and inhospitable land without a map. In this new series of HDF paintings, Staniak’s signature casting compound textures and saturated, screen-like hues are treated with an extra visual device. Software-based geometric compositions dissect his seemingly random and improvised gestures into more ordered areas of information.