The Uncovered Script: Finding the Golden Score

There are moments in my practice where I feel less like I am making an image and more like I am encountering something already written. A Golden Score emerged in exactly that way.

A Golden Score, Ralph Kerle, Signed Limited Edition 1 of 3 (100 × 250 cm)

I was drawn first to the field of gold — an expanse that felt both ancient and immediate. Gold carries the weight of manuscripts, icons and sacred objects, yet here it appeared fluid, unstable and alive on the surface of water. Then the lines began to reveal themselves. At first glance they seemed incidental — distortions of masts, rigging and structures reflected on water. But the longer I stayed with the image, the more they began to organise themselves into something else entirely. They started to behave like notation. Like a score.

Not precise in the way of traditional music, but suggestive, rhythmic and full of pauses and tensions. That was the turning point. The work moved from being a reflection of the world to something that felt as though it was describing a hidden structure beneath it. A kind of visual music written by light, water and movement. Not composed by me, but discovered through attention. What fascinates me is that this score cannot be read in any fixed way. Each viewer brings their own rhythm and interpretation. In that sense, the work is never complete. It continues to unfold.