Nature Inspired Abstraction
" I have always loved the way nature - plants and creatures find a way into the cracks and crevices of man-made structures - These unplanned expressions of wilderness have always felt like important reminders that no matter how much we seek to remove ourselves from nature it is impossible - without nature we are nothing and the denial of nature is the denial of life."
Genevieve Leavold
About the Artist
I am a self-taught painter from Somerset UK. I originally trained in Theatre Design specialising in Scenic Painting and prop making. My love for creating immersive spaces informed my approach to painting as I hope to take the viewer into another world, a place of energetic exchange and flow.
Influences and inspiration
I use abstraction to explore concepts of self, and our relationship to the natural world. Taking a meditative approach to my process the paintings are created by layering transparent glazes and opaque marks. There is a vital element of movement in this process: it's physical: using large brushes to lay out the composition of the work and moving with the brushstrokes.
I have always loved dance and this deeply informs my practice, I want to take you somewhere in these abstract forms, to a memory or a feeling that sits just out of sight.
My paintings are driven by and express a need for harmony, in the movement and the palette I use. There's rhythm in nature and I feel that my unplanned gestures and brushstokes chime with this rhythmic flow.
My process developed initially through deep observation of nature and subsequent abstraction of essential qualities of form and colour from the worn, overgrown and overlooked parts of urban spaces where nature had re-claimed parts of the city. create intuitive, direct paintings and drawings.
I drew on my love of organic forms found in nature and love of eastern philosophy as foundations for my work.
Process and Development
When I paint I work in layers, building depth and colour into the movement so that each oil painting has a new character as the light changes from day to night.
Each brushstroke tells a story, as the spontaneous strokes are unplanned but an intuitive response to the layers and colours beneath.
The layers interact with each other, concealing and revealing, creating balance and harmony within the half-formed shapes. Echoes of plant forms, water and landscapes are present but slip and slide into something new.
