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His Methods
Involvement with mainstream commercial art practices are hard won and due to survival mode toward his efforts to also stay connected in a tough, critical 'fine arts' industry serving a small NZ population.
Usually his commercial activities are kept seperate from private studio productions in order to retain a genuine flavour of expression. Deliberately designing to a commercial clients requirements is very different in approach and certainly production content, than creating for himself.
To these ends his private work is subjective and production sessions rely on improvisations to express impressions. A work may begin with a drawing from his journal entries or an off the cuff situation applying a background in a commotion of action painting to be embellished later with shape and forms overtop.
Themes in his work follow a contemporary standard of translating experiences in the real world through urban, landscape, flora, fauna, portrait or still life settings. These are often altered, re-positioned, juxtaposed by some surreal or peculiar influence within the composition. That influence may be displayed by loosely applying distorted forms or a bold colour scheme of paint to suggest an emotional atmosphere. Subjects are treated out of place and at odds with surroundings or associated familiar objects. A composition may have finely crafted aspects along with expressionistic elements.
Finlayson mixes it up in a quirky imagery. Formal and informal, definition beside uncertainty, the pretentions of familiar life with unfamiliarities.
"I want to see through the things I take for granted. Art is fine tuning my perception on life and the paintings are like snapshots of possibilities. In fact we do it all the time in the ways we describe such as, you could cut the air with a knife, turn green with envy, go red as a beetroot, eat like a pig or cry over spilt milk etc ..... to me, these phrases literally conjure up fascinating warped imagery of the atmosphere surrounding our human condition. So I build on that and they become interpretations into my own emotional landscape".
His early Surrealist work was influenced by an attraction to artists such as Rene Magritte and Gorgio de Chirico where scenes and settings were more realist than fantasy.
 'Women in trees' 75 oil |  'Rendezvous' 79 acrylic |  'Coming Home' 79 oi |
In Auckland 1979 he met and became friends with painter Philip Clairmont who introduced him to Tony Fomison and other artists. These two influenced his attitude toward emotive approach and cultural edge, respectively.
He began exploring automatic drawing technique, abstraction and expressionism.
"I still had a crush on Surrealism and was checking out Dada, the Fauves and current German artists like Joseph Beuys. The more I experimented in the studio the more everything changed. It's one thing to know a lot of information ..... feeling it in my guts, acting it out with my whole being was something else entirely. My study attention switched to New Zealand artists, past and present, to the exciting people and times that surrounded me in my home grounds".
 'Left...holding the bag' 79 graphite ' |  Woman with Everything' 84 oil |
In the early 80's Finlayson got interested in the cultural similarities between Maori and his own clan heritage of Highland life. Communal life, love of land, spiritual interaction, conservationist awareness, similar artistic design principals like culture of the curve and recreational dance ritual seemed very relevant to some of his personal perceptions on the frontier of contemporary Pacific life.
One day whilst playing around with a small blow torch he discovered drawing with fire stimulated a deep and inspiring tribal urge. This developed into what he calls ' Pyrotechnical drawing'.
The pyro-technique expressed interest in PacifiCelt design formulas and communal motif. At first the torch was used to 'block out' and 'shade' areas of a design, then he used it to fashion swirling Celtic patterns or motif to 'fill out' the forms of objects and figures. This developed into exaggerating the motif size so that its contours became the contours of landscape terrain.
"The Land moves me and fire is drawing out my pakeha pride, I sensed everything around me cultivated this flow or vibration like a collective essence everywhere, I felt safe with it, lucid".
 'Edge of Town - self portrait' 85 |
|  'Copper terrain 2' 9 |
The pyro-technique is reminiscent of ' poker work', a folk art used by colonial settlers.
Finlaysons suped up version is now well established in his repertoire of production mediums.
He uses the torch along with cut out metal templates, stencils, shaped wire and kitchen utensils that become useful items creating forms, patterns and contours within a composition.
Pyrotechnical drawing elements are also used in conjunction with painted aspects overtop.
His recent artworks incorporate a variety of mediums and applications including spraycans, florescent paints and stencil design elements.
" I am eclectic in my work approach and feel comfortable switching or revolving style. Pacific life defines that, leading me to arrange a multi-layered character who thinks and speaks a collective language as one. For me, Art is about deepening insight, not the trap of surface technicalities.
I could surround myself with pretty pictures to distract from the fact that sometimes life sucks.
Instead I am aware it is the uncomfortable and provocative things in life that really define us, so I'm into displaying the challenge and reflect in disarming my fears.
It also makes for more interesting conversation.
For instance - throwing coins into a wishing well inspires our feelings of hope .... that's nice.
However it means nothing unless at some point in life one has experienced and overcome being vulnerable or fragile in the face of overwhelming futility, when having faith is pointless. Much like throwing coins into a pool of lava. (as shown below) That's real and reminds me of times when my will to survive has been challenged.
Or how about opportunities that arise on 'everyones' journey to revise the many layers of behaviour we pile up for pretence and protection. Most of us are detached from going there and as such, deny a connection to the innocent expressive core being we still are at the start of this trip".
(as below) Painted on a found tea chest and hinting at some enlightenment that may take place chatting over a cuppa.
 'Five Wishes in a Lava Pool' 02 |  'Everyone' 01 |