Jesse Watson’s compositions resemble musical arrangements in which graphic elements and gestural marks converge into a single rhythmic accord. Working simultaneously across a series of canvases, Watson builds layer upon layer of information. Hard edged graphic elements set a formal underlying rhythm around which loose, sometimes percussive brush marks cluster. Watson also places an emphasis on the physical process of painting; patterns of prismatic colour are broken and re-configured, and often hints of the figurative lie just behind the picture plane. His experimental Dialogue pieces for the Ahead of the Curve exhibition are variations on a theme, some are dense and textured while others remain light and translucent.

Watson graduated from AUT in 2002 with a Bachelor of Visual Arts majoring in painting. He then spent 2003 in Melbourne producing commission work for Interior Art Australia. After returning to NZ between 2004 and 2007, he departed for Europe where he was based in Amsterdam until mid 2009. Watson has been selected as a finalist in the Wallace Art Awards every year from 2006 to 2010 inclusive and has work in many private collections across New Zealand.