John Dunster

born in england in 1966, I studied art in west sussex and sunderland,my paintings are a continuation of a tradition of abstract art developed in response to landscapes. in my own search I try to interpret, from my own standpoint, my societys feeling of empathy for environment through prominent features that suggest the continuity of landscape beneath industrialised agriculture or that epitomize the reverence for monumental vestiges of wilderness. The sometimes formal development of images, sometimes intuitive, usually begins with colour and linear sketches drawn on the spot or from memory. The paintings retain echoes of landscape space in the deployment of shape and colour, whilst becoming increasingly defined by the physical surface of paint: the handling and mark-making. I freely adapt the range, depth and contrast of colours and can repeatedly rework whole areas of the painting in response to the shapes suggested. By blending and adjusting colours on the surface, the handling of this surface creates paintings that feature both spontaneous and conserved elements.

education
sunderland polytechnic 1985 1988
b.a.(hons) degree: 3D design, glass and ceramics
west sussex college of art and design 1984 1985
college diploma, general art and design
the weald school, west sussex 1977 1984

painting exhibitions
staffordshire open studios,
Lichfield Cathedral Sep 2007
a thousand steps solo exhibition,
ancient high house, stafford 2001,