I want to return to the courtyard. I have mentioned that for me all of Rome was processed there. This movement into the paintings was a movement not just of the room or the wall into the work but of the whole experience, I went into the courtyard, the courtyard went into the paintings. I was lucky enough to be at the BSR long enough to see the seasons change. The sun hit different parts of the courtyard at different times and the site of my cigarette breaks changed accordingly. I moved paper around in the studio, I moved green plastic chairs around in the courtyard. This was a truly 'expanded painting', not an art move that illustrated an idea but a lived experience.

— John Robertson