Splitting the Hand of God

Stewart Russell

At once familiar yet strange, Stuart Russell’s description of his paintings as ‘guided by the torches of psychoanalysis and alchemy’ provides us with a clue, yet as viewers we are left with work to do. Refusing to commit to figuration or abstraction, the viewer is left an active participant, working with the paintings to make sense of them. Yet, to say that we are left to make sense of the paintings would be reductive, for we, as viewers, are also forced to make sense of ourselves. How do we make sense of the world? As we grasp the familiar and grapple with the unfamiliar, Russell’s paintings provide assistance. They give us just enough to keep working, to keep asking questions, and to keep wondering. We are left in a space between knowing and unknowing, between conscious and subconscious. It is a space that keeps us engaged, aware that while the paintings tell us something, they are also holding something back.