Oliver Clegg

Born 1980

In my work the key elements are the surface and the subject. I am constantly looking for surfaces and subjects that have the potential to inspire a indefinite narrative.
One way in which I endeavour to do so in my painting has been to use old drawing boards that are layered with a fertile history of marks and blemishes that relate to the countless uses and individuals that the board has witnessed. Similarly the objects that I paint onto these boards, which are mainly old childrens toys, are ambiguous and pertain a sense of belonging to an older generation.
Are they funny, cute little objects stupidly grinning and holding their poses even when discarded or are they melancholic objects, adopting a more macabre and psychologically disturbing appearance? The archival-quality of placing the whole painting behind glass not only heightens the quality of an historic object but also demands that these confusions are addressed.

The way in which the object is painted onto the board evokes similar confusion. The objects are apparently real - defined by the strong shadow that locates them - but exist however within an ambiguous space where the two-dimensional quality of the drawing board contrasts with the three-di...