Cloud Study, Brittany #2 (Oil painting) Painting

I explore nuclear explosions as cultural, historical and iconic symbols. Referencing the scale, beauty and abhorrent nature of the atom bomb I delve into the periphery of the subject, the myths, characters and surrounding evidence. I work across a wide range of media from vast oil paintings and projections to ceramics you could hold in your hand. I’m drawn to the decisive moment, the disruption of the landscape, the dust, the glow, the force of the explosion. I deliberate the split second that represents our race to self destruction. My cloud study drawings & paintings developed as a way to hone my craft (of essentially painting clouds) to speed up the process of my large paintings by improving my oil painting techniques and draughstmanship. I have collected images of clouds from places I visit and from my everday walks in Hackney. I also paint and draw them en plein air when possible. They are like the gateway drug to my paintings of mushroom clouds and explosions.