Within my painting practice at the moment I am still dealing with concepts involved in the interpretation process. I find the still life tradition full of possibilities where the subject matter can be looked at in new ways; ways that engage with the tradition while at the same time challenging its underlying structures. I feel the sharp realist approach allows the viewer a way into the painting; a point where s/he can engage with this tradition of reading or finding meaning within the painting. It is once the viewer starts to look for a concrete interpretation that peculiar things start to surface. What looks like a straightforward presentation, taking a comfortable seat amongst established interpretation methods, becomes the very place where cracks appear in the old and the new reveals itself. Like the surfaces of the objects in the paintings becoming the surface of a painting, the old and the new exist in a single place.

- Damien Kurth, Artist statement, April 2003.