In the studio with… David Oates

How long have you been at APT?
I’ve been at APT since 2002, when I sublet Geoff Rigden’s studio for a while, then applied for and was offered my present studio . Although it’s getting smaller due to two decades of accumulated paintings, it is in a great position on the corner of the second floor, with it’s view from the corridor window of the tidal creek and all its life-forms.

Describe APT in three words...
Continuity, Dissension, Evolution

What is your practice and how do you like to work in your studio? 
I have an irregular pattern of work time in the studio, which has always been the case, and which I prefer to slots of say two weeks at a time . I work either very quickly, making several paintings over a few days ( ‘Kiss ‘ series ) or with slow build-ups of thin glazes of oil paint over many weeks.

Which artists have influenced you?
My oldest direct influence is Edvard Munch, whose paintings I saw at the Hayward in the 70s: their intense physicality was a revelation to me that paintings were hand-made . Chardin, Malevich and Ad Reinhardt have had an influence - in various ways their work uses a physical presence of material or subject to reach the metaphysical.

What is the most unusual thing someone might find in your studio?
Perhaps the most unusual object in my studio is a Kilner jar half full of water, containing clay from the garden of the house where I was born.