The Elders of Chad Painting

Biography I was born in London and grew up on the borders of Hertfordshire. I trained as a hairstylist which also enabled me to pursue my love of travel, subsequently living and working abroad for several years. In 1993 I moved to Sussex close to the South Downs National Park. With a life long passion for art I had joined art groups to paint and draw and decided as a mature student to embark on a foundation course followed by a fine art degree course graduating in 1998. The driver in universities at the time was principally biased toward conceptual art which for several years I pursued, however, the draw of paint always a passion was reignited when I accepted a painting commission for a music company; since that point my work continues to occupy a more reflective expressive figurative place; The portrait has become a recent preoccupation, fusing the figure and landscape in some images.The self portrait is also a genre that I have become interested in and in 2019 had my portrait selected for the Ruth Borchard portrait exhibition. Over the past two decades I have exhibited Nationally and Internationally in selected group and solo exhibitions and have work in private collections in the UK, Europe, Japan and America, gaining international awards for work that depict the impact of human decisions that affect us all. In addition to many private commissions I have produced sculptural installations for the National Trust UK, and exhibited in Museums here and abroad. Critical analysis of my work has been written by Timothy Warrington - International Federation of Art Critics and Sean Parfitt Artist/Curator Statement Moved by and observing the chaotic and beautiful world that we inhabit and which changes at an ever faster pace leads me to express work as a multi-media artist either through painting or sculpture, the work often addresses the uncomfortable effects upon us all of environmental changes and global conflicts, the ongoing humanitarian crisis across the world and disenfranchised peoples; Inspiration is often taken from my own photography and drawings or imagery found through the media; much of my work is imagined or drawn from memory. Despite some of my work challenging and lingering in the darkness, it is my quest to continue to investigate and explore my vision of the world.