Mike Pratt about his Flower Paintings, 2025 – 2026

The works are about the combination of colour and geometry – blending transparent pigments and hard edged screen printed outlines together. Each painting is a flower, they have been made in a series one after another, between 2025 – 2026. The process of printing and pouring resin gets pushed and pulled, allowing the materiality to become part of the image. The flower gives form but the colour isn’t representing the flower, instead I want the colour to become a subject in itself.

The simplicity of the work is the result of each decisive part of the process, from the screen print which is thoughtfully planned but relatively instantaneous, to the pouring of resin, which once applied has a finite period when it can be worked. Both parts of the process happen when the works are laid flat, and it’s only afterwards that I’m able to lift the canvas and see the final results. My role is to direct, allowing the detail to come from the materials I’ve chosen.

The scale of the image is related to the size I’m able to make, the dimensions are the limit of my body and how long I can stretch my arms to pull the ink down the screen. I wanted these prints to be zoomed in, off-centred and sometimes the wrong way up. These misalignments are there to emphasize the boundaries of each picture and describe an internal energy. I’d like the works physicality to interact with the viewer through this scale, whilst the hard reflective surfaces mirror the external world.

I want to make paintings where people don’t question the subject, because they’re so taken by them. 

Mike Pratt, 

March 2026