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About Tekton / X26
Tekton / X26 / EPC is the 35th work for my Experimental Print Club. I editioned the work in March 2026 at my studio in Bristol.
I have a tendency to store myriad mental images of geometries that I spot on excursions away from the studio, that I immediately know I’d like to work with at some point in the future; ideas for form, volume and line that sit in my semi-concious, gestating, until for some inexplicable reason they become foregrounded, and I start working on them.
In the best cases that process leads to a series of studies and drawings that hopefully coalesce into a new edition, or series of works as the drawings are progressed across the coming days and weeks. The underlying geometry for this latest study, Tekton, is one such idea, a set of tiled forms that I think I originally saw in southern Spain a few years back, that I’ve wanted to work on ever since, but with no particular idea of how the form might be transformed into a completed study.
As I started work mapping out the way in which the tessellated blocks might be configured, I realised that I could place an X form at the heart of the study, and spin the image out from there. I wanted to create a fairly rigid underlying set of structures to hang a much looser, almost painterly set of marks and colours on. I hope there’s a lively tension between the grid and the paint. That’s certainly my intention, to juxtapose the looseness of the linework against the rigidity of the structure, creating a certain tension in the final image.
I rather inevitably got carried away with the way the linework could be moulded and twisted over the forms, leading to some rather lovely details across the surface of what will be quite a large new work. I’m envisaging it at maybe 160cm high by 128cm wide, a size I’ve made before with the Arpeggi series, and one that can add real impact to a room. I like the idea that there’s a long view of the underlying form, and a myriad closer up views of the over painted lines and colours that ultimately make up the image.
The colour palette on this first study takes on a fairly earthy set of hues, that I think speak to the idea of stratification in rock forms, and the winter landscape, before it becomes cloaked in the verdant greens of spring. It’s a difficult palette to reconcile, and lacks the sugar rush of some of my pieces, but I hope it will reward the viewer over the longer term. Subconciously I think I’m probably channeling the palettes of mid century painters like Peter Lanyon and Roger Hilton, phenomenal painters who seemed to be able to capture something almost primal about the British landscape both with their form and palette. There’s a looseness there that’s also deeply alluring, something to investigate further over the coming months.
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Tekton / X26 / EPC #35
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10 colour pigment print on Hahnemühle 305gsm ultra smooth photo rag
Edition of 12, plus 2 APs
Printed in March 2026
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Sheet size 57cm H x 48cm W
Image size 45cm H x 36cm W
In situ and in the studio
Click to play the Soundcloud audio file or read the full transcript >
The cut lines don’t line up where the geometry actually breaks itself; and it’s got this kind of glitch going on which I really like. That’s to do with the way the geometry is layered into space, it’s the kind of inflection points as it changes direction, and has a certain kind of perspective which moves them in the space, it means they’re not all lined up; there’s an arcing (quality) to them which is rather beautiful. It adds in a whole load of interesting details to where the colours switch direction and creates these little kind of glitched pieces of panels of colour, and details or flecks on the final picture.
There’s something of Peter Lanyon there; there’s a lot of mid-century modern in the palette. I really love those earthy tones that he uses, combined with the blues and golds, so you get this sense of the landscape and seascape. I think he used to hang-glide and you get this kind of, in his work, this kind of view, a bird’s eye view of the landscape which is fantastic. I wanted to take on some of that quality, so instead of using the more candied colours that I sometimes go for, or the bigger palettes, I wanted to use something which has a kind of earth like quality almost; tectonic, hence the name; you know sometimes when you’re on a beach or maybe by a rock pool and you see the layers and strata of rocks around you, maybe back up in the cliff edge; or just layered in the rock forms as they break up on the edge of the sea; you get these amazing golds and browns and coppers coming through the earthy rock tones. it’s not an area that I know a huge amount about, but the optics of it are always really beautiful, the way the water can come on and brighten the colours as it gets wet.
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Read or listen to the original blog post here >
https://chuckelliott.com/news/tekton-x26-audio-notes
About the Print Club
If you’d like to receive three or four exclusive new editions in the post each year, alongside personal news and views from the studio, and invitations to shows and fairs, please do consider becoming a member of my Experimental Print Club. You can join or leave the club at any time, with absolutely no obligation to stay any longer than you want to.
New works are sent out somewhat sporadically throughout the year, often in line with the changing seasons. Each piece is unique, exclusive, and only available on the day it’s editioned, the size of the edition being determined by the number of members on the day.
I hope the club presents a more personal and intriguing way to connect with the studio, by creating a platform for collecting engaging new works for your home. The club is hosted online here, and I send out fairly regular blog posts and emails about the work too. I’d like to think that it’s an interesting proposition!
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Associated works
