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Vancouver-based artist Jeremy Hof creates part-sculptural paintings by applying numerous layers of multi-colored paints to a canvas, then sanding it away in spots to reveal glowing, multi-colored craters. The artist also sometimes obliterates the two-dimensional canvas form altogether, creating works that are more sculptural than they are painterly.

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I love the high-contrast, clean look of many of Hof’s works. Knowing just how much paint goes into each of these works, the sleek, at times almost minimal aesthetic of the finished pieces is almost unexpected. The way Hof layers his colors also speaks to a great deal of patience and forethought. Works featuring hand-sanded divots at their centres don’t always display random, whirling tides of colors – instead many are composed of regular stripes, or a well-planned gradient.

Some of Hof’s works – in particular those that lean more into celebrating psychedelic, random layers, remind me of the pour works of Holton Rower. It’s interesting to see how two nearly opposite methods can produce a similar aesthetic.

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