Couch: Previously owned by Sigmund Freud is the title of one of twelve figurative works by David Troostwyk to be shown at Matt’s Gallery. The work explores the significance of absence and loss, both as concept and experience. The object is defined solely by the contours left in a surrounding field of black, leaving the remaining white ground untouched.

Troostwyk  employs the metaphor of absence to direct our thoughts towards the emotional significance of that which we have lost. The language is powerful because by omitting a direct description of the object, Troostwyk reverses our consideration of the pictorial image. Meaning is not derived from looking at the physical representation of things but from the imprint left by their absence. Despite the reduced descriptive means used, the emotional evocations are both strong and varied. The Images touch on a poignant truth about human experience, namely, the relationship that exists between meaning and loss.

This will be David Troostwyk’s fourth exhibition at Matt’s Gallery.  In 1979 Matt’s Gallery first opened with David Troostwyk.