Rather than depicting specific narratives or known scenarios, Welin is interested in broader ideas relating to familiar emotional states: how we feel when waiting, our need for belonging, the uncertainty and security intrinsic to social interactions.
There is an almost odd, subliminal set of codes by which we adhere. As such, Welin's figures often appear suspended in betweenness, where solitude melds with connectivity. How do we, as humans, abide by an almost invisible/inexplicable collective rhythm? This tension between individuality and togetherness is a consistent theme throughout the included works.
Alongside the figurative works, Welin has also produced still-life paintings of flowers. At first, these may seem like outliers within his central polemic, until we consider how flowers and bouquets often function as focal points for social gatherings. Just as we gather in groups, we also gather groups of flowers to celebrate these encounters. Flowers have become an almost ceremonial ritual, something we use when We Meet, and Meet, and Meet.
Welin works with classical painting techniques, which enable him to communicate an emotional language through colour theory, line, and gesture. He prefers a process that exists on the edge between planned ideas and a certain degree of uncertainty, allowing the painting to remain open and gradually find its own direction toward completion. In this process, anxiety becomes an integral part of his working method acknowledged as a catalyst for recognizing the moment when a work begins to tip into something interesting.
While Welin's figures reflect collective presence and interpersonal awareness, the flowers suggest moments of pause, offering a counterpoint of stillness and intimacy, and - not unlike paintings themselves - a means to communicate the uncommunicable.
We Meet, and Meet, and Meet is Welin's debut exhibition at BEERS London.
