About this painting

In Reef, Tomasz captures the meeting point of land, sea and life in an abstract exploration of the tropical ocean.

While open to interpretation, the work can be viewed from two perspectives. A bird’s-eye view represents a gently sloping seabed from crystal-clear seawater over limestone at the top, to deeper water and coral reefs teeming with life below. From a diver's vantage point, looking directly into the centre of the artwork, a rugged underwater terrain fades into the distance beneath scattered light from disturbed water and dense bubbles above (perhaps immediately after a dive).

Created with acrylics, sand, pumice and translucent mediums, it brings together an artist's and a scientist's impression of a marine environment. It captures the way light and colour scatter through water with depth, evoking a sense of calm and escapism.

Colour and light and online images

Online images often do not fully capture the vivid colour palettes and depth of these types of abstractions. This is due to colour compression and the limitations of screens. Colours often underrepresented in digital images include hues from turquoise to deep blue.

Textured artwork with multiple translucent layers will also vary considerably depending on ambient light, influenced by the time of day and the weather.

The photos in the gallery have been taken under different lighting conditions to provide a balanced representation. This piece is ideally suited to a minimalist, contemporary setting.