Rhythm Adjust

"I live in the city and usually paint remote landscapes so, this year, escaping the urban confines has been a challenge. In lockdown I was drawn to the fresh subject of London skies and discovered a strangeness that mirrored life below. As we struggled for answers, I found, above my home and studio, towering vistas where clarity and ambiguity mixed freely, a virtual space where bleached formations morphed in plain sight against an unrelenting blue. Were these cumulous blooms building or collapsing, invading or receding, beautiful or threatening? Gradually, through painting and contemplation, I became attuned to the ebb and flow of a daily, shared experience. 

I am a lover of wild places and obsessive gatherer of material. As a painter I’m intrigued by the fragile potential of spaces where dramatic changes occur everyday. I accumulate photographs whilst walking in mountains and distill my experiences into the medium of oil. Sometimes I see my works as pinnacles of experience retrieved from a chaos of memory.

Through reconnection, initially via small paintings, I hope to articulate emotions and perhaps retrieve lost moments common to us all. I relish the challenge of transforming empty landscapes into monumental, internalized vaults of atmosphere and wish to draw the viewer into a metaphysical arena between realism and abstraction. Working with a range of scale aids this dynamic.

Simply visiting a landscape is different from occupation and delving is my preoccupation. Much experience is retrospective and we have all, at some point, felt overwhelmed in nature. I want to nudge viewers into the realm of drama with reminders of those overlooked moments yet leave the painting as a container that resists conclusion." - Daniel Crawshaw, 2021

Accolades

Education: BA Hons Fine Art (Painting) Leicester Polythechnic, 1987- 90. Foundation Studies South Glamorgan Institute of H.E. Cardiff, 1985- 86.

Recent solo exhibitions: New Paintings, Martin Tinney Gallery, Cardiff, 2018. Glaslyn AMP, London, 2017.

Recent group exhibitions: Remote Lands, Zuleika Gallery, Woodstock, 2020. ING Discerning Eye, 2020. Derwent Art Prize, 2020. Border Country- The Sidney Nolan Trust, 2019. Mindscapes-  bo.lee gallery, London, 2018. Imagine, Gippsland Art Gallery, VIC, Australia, 2018.

Recent residencies: Elan Valley Trust – Rhayader, Powys, Wales, 2019.

@daniel.crawshaw1