Bridge #2 Painting

I was born in South Africa and now live in the UK. As a child, I was always drawing, but it wasn't until I turned 35 that I began to paint and pursue art more seriously. Before diving into art, I trained as an architect and moved to London to follow a career in architecture. Throughout the years, I've channelled my creativity into various forms, including music, drawing, painting, and sketching, as a way to liberate myself from the constraints one can experience in an architectural career. In 2018, I was fortunate enough to have a gallery host my first solo exhibition. I also participated in two group shows in 2019. However, since then, I have been primarily absorbed in the architectural world. Recently, I decided to return to my artistic roots, eager to create more art and explore new opportunities to exhibit my work. On the back of this decision, I was privileged to be included in another group show in London in June 2024. My work primarily represents the human form. I am drawn to the sculptural angularity of the male body. This stems from my love for and attraction to the tactile aspects of stone, rock, wood, and the buildings made from these materials. My earliest awareness of the power of architecture on the human psyche came from walking the cathedrals of Portugal and Spain at an early age. The awe I felt upon entering these spaces, captivated by how the stone encapsulates and moulds space and light, profoundly influenced my artistic and architectural vision. In my drawings, I work mostly in monochrome, using the interplay of light and shadow to reveal and conceal the subject matter. Recently, I decided to return to my artistic roots, eager to create more art and explore new opportunities to exhibit my work. As with my drawings, my paintings represent images revealed by light and shade. I use paint as a sculptural medium, moulding the image through the interplay of light and shadow. Using only a palette knife, I layer on the paint thickly, then scrape, rub, and rework it until the final image reveals itself. Each painting goes through a series of iterations before it is deemed complete. Sometimes, even a work displayed may be reworked afterward, presenting a whole new image or representation. My ink drawings follow the same route as the giclée print drawings, albeit in a different medium. I prefer to work with a thin pen, drawing a continuous line, almost as a string, to creating the image.