Gough's recent work (see highlights) has been concerned with notions of the sublime using as his vehicle the trees and landscapes of his home country, Finland. His paintings reference the traditional meaning of the sublime, expounded by writers such as Kant, Longinus and Edmund Burke: mans insignificance when compared to nature. The paintings also reference a more contemporary approach to the sublime. Through Barnett Newman's text The sublime is Now, to the relationship between the subtle intensity of colour in Mark Rothko's work and specific power of Yves Klein's Blue.

His paintings are not just about looking into the sky at dusk, but about being taken to a dreamy place of isolation. The purpose of these works is to transport the viewer into the reflection of the artist's memories from Lapland and evoke a feeling of the sublime.

He combines the traditional and modern approaches to the sublime. Intricate detail, such as in his depictions of trees, meet pure expression of colour. The artist is able to achieve this by using oil paints on an immaculately prepared and refined canvas, which is primed with an orange undercoat to enhance the blue colour.

Relevant news

• 05/01/09 Alex Gough in the show at the Centre For Recent Drawing
• 02/07/08 Collection of works assembled for automotive consultancy, Clifford Thames
• 26/06/08 Contemporary art collection for KBC
• 23/07/07 Works at modernist house