This substantial new monograph on Perth-born, London-based artist Tim Braden surveys twenty years of paintings and works on paper. Designed by Joe Gilmore and co-published by Frestonian Gallery and Anomie Publishing, it includes new texts by Matt Incledon and Thomas Marks, alongside abridged writings by Jennifer Higgie and Dominic Molon.

Braden’s work exists at the intersection of restlessness and order, a duality reflected in his London studio: white walls and clear worktables set against shelves of books, sketches, pigments and odd sculptures. This balance between structure and curiosity animates a practice that resists linear development. Within weeks, he may move from delicate ink drawings to lush oil interiors or expansive acrylic abstractions. His exhibitions, like curated group shows, are varied yet unified by his masterful use of colour and the dialogue between figuration and abstraction.

His imagery is equally diverse – mountains, interiors, books, posters, craftspeople and travellers – all viewed through a vivid, enquiring gaze. A formative visit to his cousin Patrick Heron’s studio sparked his lifelong fascination with colour, later shaped by Josef and Anni Albers and the Bauhaus belief in the unity of art, design and teaching. Braden’s landscapes, especially of mountains, transform snow, sky and space into fields of chromatic activity where structure, tone and perspective shift between Western and Eastern traditions. His North African paintings, made in Tangier and Algiers, interrogate Orientalism by depicting both beauty and its mediation, often embedding postcards or reproductions within the image.

A parallel thread, explored in Making is Thinking, celebrates the artistry of labour. Braden’s depictions of weavers, gardeners and ceramicists honour tactile creation as a shared human impulse. Whether portraying studios, gardens or imagined journeys, his paintings offer quiet spaces of colour, balance and contemplation – at once disciplined and exploratory.