Some say painting died in the 1960s, the decade in which I was born. How unlucky was that! I have to admit that I derive most excitement from the art of the pre-60s (Derain, Matisse, Kandinsky, Klee, De Stael, Riopelle, Mitchell, Tobey and other Fauves and Abstract Expressionists are all big influences). Even so, two-dimensional art is surely still relevant, with the likes of Auerbach, Riley, Hodgkin and Soulages (almost) in our midst. The scientist in me suspects that we know less than we think about the way the brain responds to light, particularly how colours interact when layered or placed side-by-side on the canvas, and how painting provokes an emotional response. So, onwards with the continual experimentation that is art!