ARTIST PROFILE
My Artist Statement
Based in Northamptonshire, UK, I am a contemporary artist, self-taught in my practice from a young age and now I am currently completing my BA in Fine Art at Aberystwyth University, Wales. In previous years I have worked with both acrylic paint and watercolour paint, depicting different still life and landscape scenes but now most predominantly is my focus towards drawing photorealistic portraits. I am specifically drawn to, motivated, and inspired by different human emotions within my work with portraits.
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Using the genre of photorealism, I want my drawings to emit realistic and almost harsh emotion to the viewer, immersing them in a sense of familiarity and emotivity. I believe every face tells a different story, each portrait I have drawn speaks for itself and its own experiences. Influences and inspirations for my drawings also derive from artists that I have come across such as contemporary artists; Jono Dry and Gottfried Helnwein.
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When drawing I usually work with graphite pencils only and a rubber. I work upwards through the portrait, first focusing on the undertones, shadows, and contours of the face. Then I build up layer by layer carefully exposing the features and minor imperfections of the subject. These intense details are why I think photorealism is such an important style to use in my work because it exposes parts of the face that I believe are left unnoticed and unimportant in everyday life. We don’t usually get the chance in life to stop and actually look at people’s faces to the kind of intensity you can if you are looking at a piece of art in a gallery. Every scar, every blemish that I have observed and then drawn is a part of the person’s story and this is what I aim to bring with my work, a story.
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Education
Aberystwyth University Fine Art BA (currently)
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Awards
2019 The University of Northampton Schools Art & Design Competition:
- 1st Prize - The Ocee Prize for Drawing
- The FAST prize for most accomplished work in the exhibition
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Features and Exhibitions
Displayed on the BBC's Top 100 Fan Art Digital Gallery for the Peaky Blinders Series 5 Campaign
Shortlisted for Kyffin Williams Drawing Prize 2021 - Exhibition from 16/10/21 - 31/01/22
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