Art on a Postcard Mini Auction Curated by Jack Trodd

About 

I have always been interested in some kind of sensory journey when I look at art, that feeling of being engulfed in a massive expanse of rich colour, the sensitivity or contrived violence of brushstrokes and being up close to the tactile almost living nature of paint is still an overwhelming experience to me. When I am in the midst of making a painting, I experience these same feelings in a physical as well as sensory way - the slow evolution, the making and gathering of textured elements over time, the layering and excavation of colour, the search for the accidental. The words of Marlene Dumas often linger when I’m starting a new piece of work: ‘You have to keep some kind of distance’, in the case of Dumas it is the portrait or the figurative motif, the antithesis of capturing the essence or any kind of visual likeness. It is this detachment that interests me: a negative photographic image, the chance translation of a figurative image from life into some kind of effigy; the distortion, abstraction and transference of these motifs away from their natural form and colour into something artificial, disparate. Found imagery of the people, places and historical events of the North of England, Wales and in particular Ireland from the 1900’s onwards informs elements of my work, connecting the links of my own Irish heritage. It is a heritage I feel completely attached to and disconnected from at the same time, by its proximity to the not so distant past or by geography. My own interpretation of popular culture sees the past constantly uprooted, reinterpreted, and distorted by each new generation of creatives. In some ways the romanticism for rural life, a safe haven of rejuvenation, hope and enlightenment has become a popular modern aesthetic; but scratch beneath the surface and those bygone. 

Education 

I consider myself a self taught artist. 

Select Exhibitions/Awards 

The Towner Gallery Open 2017 
'Works on Paper' group show, Blue Shop Cottage Camberwell London, September 2020 - November 2020 
'In Search of Lost Time' solo exhibition Blue Shop Cottage Camberwell London, May 2021 
'Art for Charity Collective' group show, Unit 1 Gallery London, June 2022 
'Haven' Steingold Contemporary London, October 2022 
'When is Now' solo exhibition Blue Shop Gallery Oval London, January 2023 
‘Works on Paper’ group exhibition Blue Shop Gallery Oval London, April - September 2023 

Statement about AOAP Submitted Artwork 

The two pieces are studies for larger pieces in my collection of works. 

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