"My practice as an artist is primarily in painting and abstract in nature. The work initially comes from an interest in science but as the activity of creating the painting takes place, the ideas become less important and the making is all-consuming. It's only through taking time out to reflect on what I have just made that the initial ideas may resurface for a period. I am interested in notions of order and chaos, which manifest in paintings that reference minimalism and abstract expressionism. Over the years, the grid as a form has featured within my personal lexicon. Historically, the use of the grid in art has made it arguably an iconic form.

Recently my scientific interests have shifted towards looking at the mechanisms of the universe. I like to think that the universe is loosely made up of an invisible grid structure that connects every existing particle, and that order and chaos can play out their roles within this. What lies in the space between two given objects within the universe? Visually there is nothing. Which leads me to the question, what is nothingness? Space is mainly a vacuum, which has a few particles of Helium and Hydrogen per cubic metre. In our universe, even a dark empty void of space absent of particles is still something. This may be what I'm thinking about in the build up to making a painting. Through using the grid and vertical lines with abstracted forms attached to them, I further develop and explore these thoughts. I see the forms as an infinite field of energy that travel on a journey of birth, formation and eventually destruction, only for the particles to be recycled and the process begin again. This, I like to think, happens throughout the universe.

In my recent paintings the forms are painted in white on different coloured backgrounds. The white is intended to show the invisible energy through an aura or halo of light."

(Mark Francis)

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Mark Francis is a Northern Irish painter who works and lives in London. He was born in 1962 in Newtownards, County Down, and completed a BA in Fine Art at St. Martin's School of Art between 1981 and 1985, followed by an MA in Fine Art at Chelsea School of Art in 1986.

Francis has developed an extensive practice predominantly concerned with abstract painting. His influences and preoccupations are constantly changing, though he has maintained a strong association with science and the structures of the physical and natural world.

In his more recent works, Francis is captivated by colour and sound data. Each hue seems to hold information, which oscillates in an abstract sequence, much like our subconscious minds. The colours pulse and vibrate and create a visual representation of the intricate dance between data and comprehension. The paintings are melodic and chaotic in equal measure and reflect the diverse emotions and experiences that shape our understanding of the universe. The relationship that Francis has formed between art and science is both physical and poetic.

Francis has exhibited across the United Kingdom and worldwide, including at Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery Dublin, Milton Keynes Gallery, City Art Gallery Manchester, the Royal Academy, among others. His work is included in collections, such as the Tate Gallery, IMMA Ireland and Arts Council England.