In this new body of work, Messel continues his exploration of painting as a process of perception, accumulation, and change. Taking everyday observations and his immediate surroundings as points of departure, he develops paintings in which impressions of landscape, light, architecture, and material conditions are gradually transformed through the painting process.

Messel’s works move between figuration and abstraction. Forms appear momentarily recognisable before dissolving or entering into new relationships as the eye moves across the surface. Rather than constructing fixed images, he allows the paintings to remain open, building them through successive layers in which earlier gestures may be obscured, altered, or brought back into view.