Cairns’ paintings grapple with the problem of representation, of figuration and of abstraction, in relation to studio practice. His work offers up a dynamic approach to the cyclical influence of modernism on contemporary art and artists. Cairns eloquently questions art-making itself, testing the space of the frame with abstracted but familiar forms. Cairns’ new paintings cheekily titled Convent Wall refer to the challenges inherent to translation and the interpretation/misinterpretation of text.