Gait Undertows

Bart O’Reilly’s practice begins with structure. Working on multiple canvases simultaneously, he establishes sequences that foreground considerations of scale, layering, color, and surface absorbency. These early decisions create a framework through which each series develops with intention and discipline. As the work progresses, this structure gradually loosens. Repetition becomes intuitive and responsive, allowing associations to emerge organically. Fields of paint begin to suggest landscapes, bodies, or emotional states without settling into fixed imagery. Built deliberately and often slowly, the paintings remain attentive to how light interacts with their surfaces. For O’Reilly, a work succeeds not when it feels resolved, but when it remains active—open, shifting, and alive.