Artist Statement
Anthony Wigglesworth’s practice functions as a rigorous investigation into the mechanics of information propagation, treating the canvas and paper as sites where time is rendered tangible. Rooted in an early engagement with music and the study of sound, his work explores the "threshold of the before", a state of potential energy where light, rhythm, and structure begin to organize into perceivable phenomena. Positioning himself as a temporal engineer, Wigglesworth moves beyond mere abstraction to construct an architecture of duration and entropy.
In his ink drawings, the artist utilizes a highly disciplined, modular geometry to visualize the "Curtain of Time." By layering thousands of discrete, incremental units, he maps the accumulation and dispersion of information across the surface. Each mark represents a quantized moment; collectively, they form a continuum of light and shadow that mimics the propagation of sound waves through a medium. These works function as "chambers of attention," where the ordered repetition of forms creates a rhythmic frequency, inviting the viewer to witness the transition from structure to entropy as the eye moves across the field.
This logic of sequence translates directly into his oil paintings, where composition is approached as a temporal and perceptual event rather than a fixed image. Here, the artist engages with the fluid dynamics of paint and the reflective instability of elemental silver. Silver operates not simply as pigment but as an active material, defined by its capacity to respond to light. By modulating the viscosity of the medium, Wigglesworth creates a visual score where light acts as a collaborator within the work. The resulting surfaces are never fixed; they are contingent spaces that brighten, recede, and reappear, drawing the body into a quiet exchange with the passage of time.
Through this interdisciplinary approach, rooted in Music and Media Technologies (M.Phil., 1st Class Hons, Trinity College Dublin), Wigglesworth explores how the brain interprets aural and visual data. His work acts as a resonator for the internal rhythms of perception, creating a "tunnelling" effect where structure and intuition converge. Based in Dublin, he has spent decades refining a technique that treats the painting as a contained, responsive space.
“I think of the painting as a contained, responsive space, one that comes alive through light and duration. In this sense, light is not simply something that falls upon the work, but a collaborator within it. This approach reflects how I see my role not only as an artist, but as a kind of temporal engineer, shaping conditions in which perception, time, and material continually renegotiate one another.”