“Despite painting sea for the better part of fifteen years, I had never lived in sight of the sea until moving to Athens, Greece, in 2021 – where I now spend part of my year. I started this project in a workspace which looked out over a great panorama: Piraeus port to the north, Vouliagmeni to the south, and the islet of Ydroussa in between (colloquially known as ‘black island,’ for the numerous times, decades ago, when it was covered by oil from run aground tankers on their approach to the nearby port). From here, I had expected to paint islands and coastlines, but instead found myself captivated by endless ever-changing light on water.
But a threat rests behind this picture. The result of sunlight on seawater (and the heat trapped in our atmosphere by a blanket of greenhouse gases) is the warming of that water. More than 90 percent of this heat goes into the sea. And as warming climbs exponentially, our planet’s oceans – also home to most of its life – won’t be able to store any more of it.
Every other breath we take comes from microscopic underwater organisms. That same water is absorbing nine times as much global warming as the world above the surface.
This series is a contemplation of sea surfaces, but also an invitation to look deeper. Some works painted using a monochrome palette – or displaying more contrast between dark and light – reference ice-cover at the North & South Poles. In these locations, we are faced with one of the most striking visuals of the climate crisis: a battle of light vs. dark. As we lose ice, we also lose its ability to reflect sunlight. In these works, the lighter marks represent ice, bouncing sunlight away and protecting the sea below.
The series is both a homage to our oceans, and springboard for wider discussion.”
Reduce (2024)
Box lid · Fife
Oil, solar reflective paint, spray paint, ink
31.5 x 88cm
Reserved for exhibition
Contribute (2024)
Canvas & paper nautical map · Athens
Oil · 80 x 140cm
Price on request
Email to enquire
Identify (2022 – 2023)
Bus blind · Brussels
Oil bar, oil, spray paint, pastel · 120 x 80cm
Price on request
Email to enquire
Measure (2024)
Beer mats · London
Plaster & oil · 50 x 46cm
Reserved for exhibition
Congress (2022 – 2024)
Bus blind · Brussels
Oil bar, oil, spray paint, pastel · 32 x 68.5cm
Price on request
Email to enquire
Observe (2024)
Board · Athens
Oil · 128.5 x 97.5cm
Price on request
Email to enquire
Attempt (2022 – 2023)
Bus blind & book covers · Brussels & London
Oil · 70 x 70cm
Reserved for exhibition
Process (2024)
Board · Athens
Oil bar, oil, pastel · 80 x 75cm
Price on request
Email to enquire
Trace (2023)
Canvas nautical map · Athens
Oil · 72.5 x 31.5cm
Sold
Persist (2023 – 2024)
Bus blind · Brussels
Oil bar, oil, pastel, plaster · 35 x 37cm
Price on request
Email to enquire
Account (2023 – 2024)
Bus blind · Brussels
Oil · 60 x 40cm
Reserved for exhibition
Recount (2022 – 2023)
Bus blind · Brussels
Oil bar, oil, spray paint, pastel · 130 x 80cm
Temporarily unavailable
Mend (2024)
Bus blind & salvaged canvas · Brussels
Oil · 43 x 38.5cm
Price on request
Email to enquire
Confer (2024)
Bus blind · Brussels
Oil · 60 x 40cm
Sold
Card
Object Works
September 2020–April 2024
C.18th solid oak plank door · Norfolk
Gouache · 77 x 196 x 4cm
Shortlisted for the John Ruskin Prize 2025
Price on request – email to enquire
Light on Water also includes artworks painted onto more three-dimensional found objects, including items as diverse as boat pulleys, doors and codfish boxes. Many of these come from the same flea-markets and antique shops where the canvas-like surfaces above were sourced, but other object groupings come from further afield.
During 2023, Cass co-curated Points of Return, a 27-artist multimedia show in Massachusetts, USA. Whilst there, he gathered various smaller objects with clear links to the New England coast. Points of Return offers strategies and reasons for optimism in the face of climate crisis; Light on Water aims quietly to do something similar, through use of recycled materials and patient dedication to the production process.
Pulley
Flask (2024)
Rare wooden teardrop canteen · Athens
Oil · 32 x 14 x 10cm
Sold
Flask (2024)
Rare wooden teardrop canteen · Athens
Oil · 32 x 14 x 10cm
Sold
Pulley III (2024)
Metal marine pulley · Norway, ME
Oil · 10 x 2.5 x 1.5cm
Sold
Pulley IV (2024)
Marine pulley · Camden, ME
Oil · 18 x 8 x 6cm
Years series (2023 – 2024)
Wooden boxes, drawers & trunk parts
Oil · various dimensions
Explore full series
Years II or 500 Years (after van Eertvelt) Detail (2023 – 2024)
Artist's box insert · Paris
Oil & pencil · 16 x 29 x 2cm
Explore full series
Codfish
The Scottish Gallery (September 2024)
Photographer: John McKenzie
“Somehow [Light on Water] manages to be both an in-depth reflection on surfaces of water (if that is not an inherent contradiction) and to embody deep concerns with climate change. In a sense, these works are abstract. They don’t depict particular stretches of water, but are concerned with colours and moods; water is the language of the work as much as the subject. The hang places the paintings at different levels, creating the sense of the work as the sum of its parts as well as inviting us to look at individual components … Cass approaches his subject with such energy and engagement that it’s rarely dull, and manages to spark reflection on climate change without allowing [Light on Water] to feel heavy-handed or overly didactic.”
“For David Cass, the sea offers an endless source of wonder at its depths, history, bounty, and sometimes ferocity ... the artist has long been fascinated by the power of water, especially its increasing vulnerability to the effects of the climate crisis. In Light on Water, the artist continues to address the warming and rapid rising of ocean levels around the world through paintings that hover between abstraction and representation. Cass draws attention to estimates that 91 percent of Earth’s excess heat energy trapped in the climate system is stored by our oceans. As the planet continues to warm, this storage capability disappears, threatening all manner of life...”
Installation views at The Scottish Gallery (September 2024)
Photography: David Cass & John McKenzie