Derek Root investigates his role as a painter within his artistic practice through three separate ongoing series in which he works with wax, ink and oil.

His strikingly sublime monochromes of wax and oil pigment built up into a thick layer on canvas, seem to glow from within. Often appearing at once photorealist and abstract, they recall the lush beauty of Alfred Stieglitz’s Equivalents or Wolfgang Tillman's Blushes. With this series, the artist was after a possibility in painting that had a physical, material presence; the resulting effect is that of a sculptural watercolour. His nostalgic ink drawings evoke a narrative from an imaginary world of a non-specific time gone by. These works, which depict children engaging in innocent acts such as eating or carrying books, become allegories for human emotion, speaking of a less complicated time. The third series comprises oil paintings, from small works referencing pop-culture to larger works. Many are different in tone and what links them all is the artists’ desire for authenticity in his work.

Although he is engaged in the practice of painting, for Root, part of the subject matter is the idea of style, which comes through in his exploration of different applications of his medium. Root often creates concepts for exhibitions by showing work from each series together, since various ideas and experiences form each aspect of his practice, which in turn contribute to its entirety.