Artist Statement
The interests and inspirations surrounding my work consists of the stylisation of traditional western portraiture through the medium of oil paint but in contrast to this i want to portray contemporary concepts.This collaboration of old and new heavily influences my work as it allows me to connect to different audiences on subjects mainly surrounding mental health and more recently certain people in modern society being overlooked.I therefore class myself as a "contemporary classic portrait artist".
Previously, my pieces were painted onto a wide range of substrates including wood, cavas, metal, plaster reliefs , velvet and linen.They also range from rectangular shaped miniature studies which are 1"x2" to much larger pieces such as a 35"x25".The models for my work range in age (the youngest being one years old and the oldest being 92),gender and race as i am more concerned about the personal relationship i have with them more than what is seen at first glance as i find it effects my creative process more positively.
In more current work i am looking at people who i consider overlooked within out society.I have chosen to look at the three main types of people this may concern to create a three-piece series.These people being the elderly person who is segregated within our community,the tattooed person who are ironically modified for self-expression but are deemed unapproachable and for the people who may struggle with a language barrier which them deems them unable to understand and who are ignored.Each of my muses are modern people which have been allowed to slip under the radar of basic human acknowledgment therefore,I want to use the traditional style or portraiture which has been used to immortalise and give people of stature a way of showing there importance for thousands of years,but i want to do this for the modern day overlooked common person.
I have chosen to keep my portrayal of tradition and stature through the large oval shape of the canvas i have reverted back to using as my main substrate because i have realised that through the last three years of developing my work, i have experimented a lot with my substrate to enhance the communication of my theme, however after much reflection i have come to the conclusion that in a lot of cases giving too much to the viewer it confuses them, as the viewer then makes to many relatable connections and their creative analysis of the work if therefore distracted.After looking at the books Tom Wolf 'The Painted Word' and John Berger 'The Ways Of Seeing' i have realised how vital the details surrounding gestures in painting really are and these theories have heavily contributed to my work. The work i create is for my own mental health and to try and change what i think is wrong within our society to help others with their mental health along with allowing the tradition of the painted portrait to become contemporary.
Artist CV
EDUCATION:
Bangor University-PGCE in Secondary Art
Kingston University London-BA in Fine Art-2015/2018
Academy of Art London-Course in Portraiture/Oil Painting by Anastasio Pollard-2016
Prestatyn and Sixth Form-A at A level in Art and Design-2015
Raising the bar-Ruthin Craft Centre and Manchester School of Art-Merit-2014
Prestatyn and Rhyl Sixth form-A* at AS level in Art and design
EXHIBITION:
Group Exhibition-19th Feb-5th June 2022-Portrait Artist of the Year-The Compton Verney, Warwickshire
Group Exhibition-2nd/8th June 2018-Undergraduate Final show-Kingston University,London
Group Exhibition-2017-Second year Final Show-Kingston University,London
Group Exhibition-2016-Title:Lesley-at the Flying Dutchman London
AWARDS:
Shortlisted and appeared on for Portrait Artist of the year 2017-Sky Arts
Entered in BP Portrait artist award-2018
Shortlisted for Royal Academy of Portrait Painters Exhibition-2018