Blocking as Emergence: Painting at the Threshold Between Representation and Abstraction

Richard Mills

About this exposition

This exposition investigates how visual meaning emerges at the threshold between abstraction and representation through a painting process based on “blocking”—the placement of large tonal regions before any detailed painting occurs. Each painting begins with coarse structural square blocks that are then repeatedly fractured or clarified. Rather than illustrating a subject, the method becomes a perceptual experiment: recognition arises as the work shifts between coherence and ambiguity. Alongside the paintings, a set of computationally blocked images and time-based sequences are produced using Colab. These digital transformations mirror the studio process by moving between coarse simplification and increasing visual differentiation. Taken together, the analogue and digital works offer a parallel investigation of how minimal structure can trigger figural recognition, and how ambiguity can be deliberately sustained. The exposition positions “blocking” as both a practical method and a conceptual tool for understanding tipping points between seeing and not-seeing in contemporary painting.

type	research exposition
keywords	blocking, perception, representation, abstraction, tipping oint, painting
date	06/12/2025
published	26/12/2025
last modified	26/12/2025
status	published
copyright	Graham Mills
license	CC BY-NC-ND
language	English
url	https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/4046646/4046647
doi	https://doi.org/10.22501/rc.4046646
published in	Research Catalogue
external link	https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0009-0004-0158-0673

name	3 torsos_color_701
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	slideshow

name	3 torsos_color_350
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	slideshow

name	3 torsos_color_175
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
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name	3 torsos_color_87
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
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name	3 torsos_color_43
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
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name	self_portrait_color_363
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	slideshow

name	self_portrait_color_181
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	slideshow

name	self_portrait_color_90
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	slideshow

name	self_portrait_color_45
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	slideshow

name	self_portrait_color_22
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	slideshow

name	self_portrait_color_strip
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	3 torsos_color_strip
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	blocked_portrait363
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	blocked_portrait181
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	blocked_image_bs90
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	still_life_color_strip
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	still_life_color_463
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	slideshow

name	still_life_color_231
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	slideshow

name	still_life_color_115
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	slideshow

name	still_life_color_57
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	slideshow

name	still_life_color_28
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	slideshow

name	blocked_image_bs45
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	blocked_image_bs22
copyright	Graham Mills
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

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Blocking as Emergence: Painting at the Threshold Between Representation and Abstraction (2025)

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