Paul Ayers

Artist Statement:
I am primarily a painter, although I also explore ideas through printmaking and alternative photography (screenprinting and collagraphy and cyanotypes). In my painting practice I love the physical qualities of paint (particularly oil paint) and the myriad of textures, light effects, colour and illusions that you can achieve with them on a flat surface. So while my work represents objects in the real world, I strive to give the painted surfaces of my works an intensity and physical presence. I use photographic references (usually my own, sometimes found imagery) to construct imaginary places that could be real, but have a heightened sense of emotion and atmosphere. Influences include Peter Doig, Peter Blake, Caspar David Friedrich and Peter Howson.

I am particularly interested in the idea of juxtaposition - such as setting artificial, man-made structures and elements against natural landscapes, so that objects seem out of place and "surreal". My current series of paintings and mixed-media cyanotypes reference promotional photographs of late 19th and early 20th century boxers, This "Fighters" series explores the juxtaposition of strong "masculinity" against "feminine" natural forms.

I have exhibited my work...

I studied at Falmouth College of Arts in the 1990s, for my BA (Hons) Fine Art and MA in History of Modern Art and Design.

Figurative Art Now, Mall Galleries, London, 2021

Annual Open Exhibition - Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK - various years from 2011 to 2021

ING Discerning Eye Exhibition - 2021

Broadway Arts Festival Exhibition, 2020

Hunting Art Prizes, Royal College of Art, 1999