McCarthy’s presence is suggested by an organic form at the left that contains dispersing shreds of cellular patterning and a throbbing cluster of tiny coloured shapes. As though issuing from her mouth, three great speech bubbles take up the right, while the spaces between them form undulating feminine shapes. Set just off the vertical axis of the painting are two framed rectangles, picture frames within the picture. The “doughnut” patterning inside them is related to the patterning within the adjacent speech bubbles—McCarthy is discussing Town’s paintings. By changing the size of the doughnuts in different areas of the composition, the artist creates visual gradients that suggest fluctuating depth behind the surface. The symmetrical and formal distribution of irregular shapes within the painting creates a sense of dynamic authority. Town interweaves many levels of association within this work.

This Spotlight is excerpted from Harold Town: Life & Work by Gerta Moray.