Omission as Structure
July 29, 2025
There’s a difference between leaving something out and building something around what can’t ever be fully known or understood. That difference defines Structural Omission, a
These essays are where I think in public about painting, perception, and the post-certainty era. They grow out of my studio work and out of Structural Omission, the framework I developed to hold the limits of observation, perception, and knowing inside realist and representational painting.
To cut straight to the theory start with one of these:
• Realism in the Age of AI: How Structural Omission Grounds Representational Painting in Perceptual Limits
• Structural Omission: A Framework for Representational Painting in the Post-Certainty Era
• The Artist Doesn’t Know: Epistemological Limits of Representation
Read More »
Mapping the Lineage Behind Structural Omission
July 26, 2025
Structural Omission, originated by Deborah Scott, is a framework in contemporary realist painting that structures images around load-bearing absences, revealing the limits of perception, narrative,
Structural Omission vs. Tuymans and Borremans
July 25, 2025
Strategic Indeterminacy and Its Limits Luc Tuymans and Michaël Borremans are often associated with what critics call strategic indeterminacy. Their paintings hover between legibility and opacity, offering
Structural Omission: The Architecture of the Unknowable
July 23, 2025
Structural Omission: The Architecture of the Unknowable Most realist painting still operates on the assumption that everything can be rendered visible. That we can see
Painting at the Edge of Knowing: A Short Film on My Work and Framework
July 21, 2025
https://youtu.be/PmiNVGYdhIg?si=u6gqQR4rUQBCJ7f3I’m excited to share a new short film produced by art historian and critic John Seed, profiling my work and the conceptual framework I’ve been
John Seed Presents Structural Omission
July 20, 2025
In 2025, art historian and critic John Seed introduced my framework, Structural Omission, in a narrated presentation hosted on his YouTube channel. The script was
Refusing Closure in the Post-Certainty Era
July 15, 2025
We live in a post-certainty era. Many feel it, whether they name it or not. Grand narratives have collapsed, institutions have lost trust, and consensus
Rethinking Omission: From Technique to Structural Condition
July 13, 2025
. There’s a familiar argument in art writing: that omission is a technique. A deliberate choice to leave something out, to create ambiguity or provoke
Structural Omission Is the Opposite of Surrealism
July 12, 2025
Occasionally, when I share a new painting, I hear: “That feels surreal.” It’s not. Calling it that erases what is actually at stake. What Surrealism
Structural Omission Is Not Non-Finito
July 10, 2025
Structural Omission Is Not Non-Finito When people first encounter my paintings, the visible gaps and disruptions can look like incompletion. Art history has a name