A registered charity that provides artists studios, exhibition space and public engagement with contemporary art in the heart of East Oxford
About
I make drawings, prints and paintings that in various ways imaginatively transform certain places in my local environment, especially those normally overlooked and undervalued liminal corners of uncultivated land and urban brown field sites. My work is also informed by my interest in exploring the different ways reality can be understood, including such world views as those found in ancient cosmology, gnostic mythology, hermetic philosophy, the writings of Charles Fort, alchemy and contemporary physics.
My oil paintings of semi-abstract landscapes are usually small in size and are built up carefully in many layers over many months. Rather than treat these paintings simply as images, I try to let each one have its own unique character and presence. I also try to make them as vivid as possible without losing their visual balance and sense of repose.
In my drawings, however, the same landscapes are inhabited with various recurring characters, including devils, nymphs, imps and sage like birds. I tend to work on these drawings quickly and more playfully, and the results are often humorous as well as mysterious and surreal.