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Autobiography
In 1999, I was spellbound at first sight of Viera da Silva’s abstract expressionist paintings. Her labyrinthine architectures opened my eyes wide to the world around me. Exploring London’s built-up environment (with brushes in hand) would never be the same again, thus inspiring the series entitled ‘Constructions’.
I attended an arts program in Kingston-Upon-Hull, where I lived between 2000-2005. An impressive movie screening about the art of Philip Diggle changed my life. I had never seen a painter in action the way he was, his canvases are the most striking I have ever seen. His work, alongside the New York School of the 1940’s and 50’s injected an excitement into my paintings, a need for speed; I had to make up for lost time! I developed a purer form of lyrical painting, an art that was free of representation and entirely improvised.
For me, gestural painting in its truest form is mark making without intended representation of anything more than basic shapes within an improvised composition. However, when introducing elements of figuration into my ad-lib painting, the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt inspired spontaneous symbols to appear in my art.
Back in London 2006 without a studio, I painted in the East End streets and warehouses. These pieces had to be made quickly, people were watching, and film was expensive! The vaudeville vibrancy of Shoreditch and the sounds of its street music made me want my own travelling band to join me in an artistic experiment of improvised painting in response to live music. Whilst acting as an extra on a film set (‘Atonement’), I met musician Jonas Golland, and we formed ‘Rhythm and Paint’ – he played drums, and I painted in reaction to his rhythm. With the music behind me, I felt freer than ever to express myself through gestural painting. Often beginning a canvas with a template/vision for it, but ultimately the music steered my impulsions until the unforeseen paintings were complete.
At the zenith of these performances a fully-fledged rock/jazz band and I worked a circuit of art happenings and music festivals to crowds of curious and complementary revelers. The ‘heads’ are amongst some of the largest canvases resulting from these musically driven action paintings. These were partially referencing the African masks and figures that I had studied in museums, their styles filtered into the painted ‘heads’ of my performances.
The years 2006 – 2010 marked a period of positive shift in my art, yet I felt inspired to change direction again. I wanted to communicate poetic or concrete messages about my friends through portraiture. In 2011, I began designing geometric interiors as settings for intimate portraits. I have composed many of these works on paper/small canvases, working from memory or imagination with the aid of photos.
The drawings and designs for major works required close-up attention of the subjects, thus a series of oil and acrylic paintings resulted from the drawn studies of their personalities. In the finished paintings, I have attempted to convey something of the spirit of each person whilst expressing my own feelings for the individuals.
I am intrigued by the people close to me, and I developed the drawn explorations of their characters into oil/acrylic paintings that contextualise the sitters within their personal environments. The most compelling of them became large canvases that attempt to encapsulate the individuals’ many guises and traits into single unique images. The artworks of Mai continue, today, as I am still fascinated by her and unsatisfied with the results of my fictitious portraits – what a 12-year itch!
Today, I paint a plethora of image types that include nudes. My exposure to the world’s beautiful and ugly spew of fleshy media has engrained pictures that I attempt to exorcise from my memory or celebrate.
I leave myself open to everyone, embracing all that seek communication, so please feel free to contact me.
I always lose track of time when painting and want to carry on giving myself over to its creation. Making art is fundamental to my life as it enables me to exercise my imagination and express the anxiety, joy, and excitement of my existence