Promise is a fine work in which the manipulation of space and geometric form informs, and intersects with our perception of reality. This painting incorporates a referential richness which links it to the wider narrative of art historical abstraction. The clear delineation of blue forms flanking each of the picture borders, for example, recalls the interconnectedness of Mondrian's deconstructed and isolated cityscapes. In a more nationally-identifiable sense, the infinite depth and subliminal potential of the blanketed grey which enshrines the canvas draws comparison to the tonally-muted abstract accomplishments of Milan Mrkusich.

Perhaps the most enlightning aspect of this painting is contained within its title: Promise. This reveals something important of the work's power, for as viewers, the superlative abstraction of force that we are exposed to is not contained within depicted forms, but rather within that which the four blue forms collectively point towards. As viewers, we are therefore compelled to approach this promise of an undefined dynamic potency with a sense of reverential gravitas and curiosity.

The protrusions and ripples seen in his paintings are compositions of paint and light, existing only in the eye; the mind endeavours to see what is actually present rather than what it expects to see. Ref: 100 New Zealand Paintings, Warwick Brown, Godwit, 1995