The initial immediacy in the appearance of these paintings is underpinned by a considerable thought process, Cullen has commented “Sometimes weeks of visualization and clarification in my thinking precede the actual act of making which can then be swift and deliberate.”. Untitled, 1, 2012, Untitled 4, and 5, 2013 and Infinity, 2013, are all irregularly shaped, un-stretched paintings that are constructed around a loose grid, while still adhering to the rules of formal purity followed by painters such as Mondrian and Malevich. The variety of materials used in these paintings are treated with equal importance, both for their surface appearance and texture, as if Washington is using them as he would paint itself, for their colour, flatness, roughness, geometric precision and so on. For example, instead of replicating a type of mark or effect with paint, he substitutes them with the real thing. Turned up edges resemble paint drips, black tape provides a defined outline while also physically separating and defining areas of the painting, establishing a rigour that belies the harshness of its functional nature.