“I’d rather explore my work than explain it but I acknowledge that the impulse behind each piece is the result of personal experiences and struggles as they are intimately felt in my subconscious. I’ve learned to trust my instincts and feel my way forward. When I paint, I move in a rhythmic manner and let my palette knife, colour choices and abstracted shapes flow intuitively. The act of gestural mark-making is a visceral and instinctive form of self-awareness that is more about perseverance and revelation than perfection. I like to fight with my work - to go at my surfaces rough and hard without fear or doubt. Even the pleasure found  in the work results from a thorough shaking down of whatever is inside me when I’m painting that day.  It’s a challenging adventure to manifest something concrete from a feeling or memory or to render experience in plastic form. It requires listening to my inner voice and surrendering to instinct.  And then once a painting is complete, I feel that experience close off for me but I hope it remains open for others to find what they want in it.” ~ Carla Tak