Light on Water is David Cass’ current painting project, with found-object based works exhibited at The Scottish Gallery and The Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, Tatha Gallery in Fife, Joy Machine in Chicago, Thompson’s Gallery in Aldeburgh, and Christie’s in London. Additionally, one piece was shortlisted for the John Ruskin Prize 2025, and seven featured in Slow Praxis, an exhibition Cass co-curated with Tatha Gallery. The series developed as a direct response to a period of working small, after the completion of a collection of miniature seascapes for the 2022 Venice Biennale. Conceptually, it follows on from Rising Horizon, acting both as a study of light on water and a reflection on key themes and materials explored over the past fifteen years. In 2024, Light on Water was presented as a solo exhibition at The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh. Comprising over one hundred abstract seascapes (and counting), the collection can be explored further through the following webpages.

Photography by David Cass & John McKenzie
Email the studio for enquiries

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*Identify* (2022 – 2023)
Bus blind · Brussels
Oil bar, oil, spray paint, pastel · 120 x 80cm
£3400

*Measure* (2024)
Beer mats · London
Plaster & oil · 50 x 46cm
Sold

Attempt (2023 – 2024)
Bus blind & book covers · Various locations
Oil · 70 x 70cm
Sold

*Mend* (2024)
Bus blind & salvaged canvas · Brussels
Oil · 43 x 38.5cm
Sold

*Confer* (2024)
Bus blind · Brussels
Oil · 60 x 40cm
Sold

*Contribute* (2024)
Canvas & paper nautical map · Athens
Oil · 80 x 140cm
£3400

“With a desire to expand and to work expressively – with larger brushes and on a greater scale – in the summer of 2022 I began this new series. I’ve been collecting antique nautical maps and rolls of part-used vintage canvas, pasting these to various kinds of board, sometimes collaging book covers and other paper items on top. I apply plaster to some, fill, sand and gesso others.”

*Recount* (2022 – 2023)
Bus blind · Brussels
Oil bar, oil, spray paint, pastel · 130 x 80cm
£3600

*Congress* (2022 – 2024)
Bus blind · Brussels
Oil bar, oil, spray paint, pastel · 32 x 68.5cm
£1500

“Each describes closeup, abstracted wave formations – without sky or land – at different times of day or night. The image of sea surface can be infinitely abstracted. Here, reflected light is the protagonist. Suggestive of sustainable practices, their titles are an appeal to slow and to reflect.”

*Reduce* (2024)
Box lid · Fife
Oil, solar reflective paint, spray paint, ink
31.5 x 88cm
£1550

*Process* (2024)
Board · Athens
Oil bar, oil, pastel · 80 x 75cm
£2250

*Commit* (2023)
Bus blind · Brussels
Oil · 75 x 80cm
Sold

*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
£880

*Observe* (2024)
Board · Athens
Oil · 128.5 x 97.5cm
£3700

*Account* (2023 – 2024)
Bus blind · Brussels
Oil · 60 x 40cm
Sold

Light on Water also includes artworks painted onto more three-dimensional found objects, including items as diverse as boat pulleys, doors and wooden boxes. Many of these come from the same flea-markets and antique shops where the canvas-like surfaces were sourced.

*September 2020–April 2024*
C.18th solid oak plank door · Norfolk
Gouache · 77 x 196 x 4cm
Shortlisted for the John Ruskin Prize 2025
Reserved for exhibition (email to enquire)

“[Cass] paints undulating waves on antique tins, matchboxes, pulleys, and more ... Visible swipes of paint delineate the horizon in some pieces, while others are entirely awash in curved lines. Interested in conveying the effects of a heating planet and rising waters, Cass uses repurposed, human-made containers representative of physical constraints as metaphors for our collective limits to adapt.”

— Joy Machine

Pulley

Marine pulley · Rockport, ME
Oil · 23 x 11.5 x 8cm
Available

Marine pulley · Freeport, MA
Oil · 20 x 6 x 4cm
Sold

III

Miniature pulley · Norway, ME
Oil · 10 x 2.5 x 1.5cm
Sold

Marine pulley · Camden, ME
Oil · 18 x 8 x 6cm
Available

Marine pulley · Chatham, MA
Oil · 12.5 x 7 x 4.5cm
Available

Marine pulley · Boston, MA
Oil · 23 x 11.5 x 9cm
Sold

VII

Marine pulley · Wiscasset, ME
Oil · 35 x 11 x 7cm
Sold

VIII

Marine pulley · Lincolnville, ME
Oil · 30 x 13 x 10cm
Available

Marine pulley · Rockland, ME
Oil · 15 x 6 x 4cm
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
Available via Joy Machine

Framed Sketches, Light on Water copy.jpg

Framed Sketches, Light on Water, angle copy.jpg

Card

Gather (2023)
Book cover · Sketch
Egg tempera, watercolour, gouache · 17.5 x 11.3cm
Sold

Enquire (2023)
Photo mount · Sketch
Gouache, watercolour, pencil · 4.2 x 8.2cm
Available

Wait (2023)
Photo mount · Sketch
Egg tempera, watercolour, pencil · 14 x 16cm
Sold

Explore (2023)
Photo mount · Sketch
Gouache, watercolour, pencil · 8.5 x 6.5cm
Sold

Protect (2023)
Photo mount · Sketch
Egg tempera, watercolour, pencil · 10 x 14cm
Sold

Focus (2024)
Book cover · Sketch
Gouache · 26 x 16cm
Available

Repair (2023)
Photo mount · Sketch
Gouache, watercolour, pencil · 10 x 19.8cm
Sold

Combine (2023)
Photo mount · Sketch
Egg tempera, watercolour, pencil · 15.5 x 10cm
Available

Build (2022 – 2024)
Book cover · Sketch
Egg tempera & gouache · 32 x 25cm
Sold

Stand (2023)
Card · Sketch
Egg tempera, watercolour, pencil · 9 x 8.5cm
Available

Ask (2023)
Photo mount · Sketch
Egg tempera, watercolour, pencil · 12.5 x 18cm
Sold

Foster (2023)
Photo mount · Sketch
Gouache, watercolour, pencil · 8.5 x 6.5cm
Available

Immerse (2023)
Photo mount · Sketch
Gouache, watercolour, pencil · 16.5 x 11cm
Available

Craft (2023)
Photo mount · Sketch
Gouache, watercolour, pencil · 6.5 x 8.5cm
Available

Adjust (2023)
Card · Sketch
Egg tempera, watercolour, pencil · 9 x 8.5cm
Available

Return (2023)
Photo mount · Sketch
Egg tempera, watercolour, pencil · 11.2 x 16.8cm
Available

Ground (2023)
Photo mount · Sketch
Gouache, watercolour, pencil · 8.5 x 14cm
Available

“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.”

— Susan Mansfield, The Scotsman ★★★★

“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...”

— Kate Mothes, Colossal