Gillie Graham and the complications of freedom Painting

Ross Cunningham has worked in the creative industry for over twenty-five years. He studied architecture at Nottingham University, and subsequently worked in commercial graphic design, establishing a London-based design agency in 2009. Since then, Ross has worked internationally, across a range of sectors, with a primary role as creative director for various brand identity programmes. In his painting work, there is a natural emphasis on bold graphic elements and architectural form. Pre-production is often carried out digitally, combining traditional sketching with skills developed in commercial design practice. Specific artist influences cited are Richard Diebenkorn and Milton Avery. Of particular interest is the threshold between representational and abstract modes of painting. Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park series is noted as a high point of reference, where an expressive painterly style is complemented with an overall sense of architectural order and graphic simplicity. ​ Growing up on the coast in Northern Ireland, subject matter is often drawn directly from the sea. Common to much of the work is a sense of escapism, be it through nostalgic references or an exploration of iconic and faith-related narratives. Each painting contains its own battle to create order beyond the merely physical subject matter—to find some sort of harmony and rest in the final relationships of form and colour.