Cam Edward’s practice consistently explores hard-edged geometric compositions that interplay with stylised gestural forms. Self-taught, his work lies at the intersection of both contemporary painting and the digital world. Architectural forms, our increasingly urbanised life, and the underlying impressions of digital media and internet culture are influences in his work.

Edward utilises colour gradients to define form in a minimally detailed aesthetic while consciously avoiding unnecessary detail. His paintings emerge through a process of precise masking to reveal the work. Edward defines his practice of painting as ‘paintings as constructions’, both in method and composition. The act of reveal through his masking techniques brings irony to the conceptual space he works within. “There is a real sense of satisfaction when I feel it is time to peel back these temporary constructions; the act of revealing exposes the main elements of the work. Structurally, my works can be quite planned, but decisions to do with colour are more process-driven; just as a building has temporary scaffolding during construction, so too does my paintings”.

His 2018 Swish series provokes an analogy for fleeting moments of digital interaction. In an attempt to rejuvenate the act of painting itself, Edward plays on subtle ironies by expressing these moments through the analogue medium of paint: “The gradients and crisp masking is just as much an act of artistic vanity as it is about portraying an unplanned, non-designed moment of human-machine interaction. I choose to portray this with paint, a tactile and demanding medium that existed well before the digital age”.

Edward’s work has been exhibited in Auckland and is held by corporate and private collections throughout New Zealand and abroad.