Gareth Brighton

Cohort

2023

Olivia Isabel Smith
When she was sick
2023

“Who swam ere rivers were begun,
Immense, of fishy form and mind,
Squamous, omnipotent, and kind;
And under that Almighty Fin,
The littlest fish may enter in.”
Excerpt – Rupert Brooke ‘Heaven’
Works about self reflection and found objects.
Explored through oil paintings and jewellery.

Chloe Summerhayes

Stray

2023

This series of work came about slowly and through experimentation and abandoning conventional oil painting methods I have followed in the past. Rather than using technical control to determine the outcome of the painting, I allowed my hands and instincts to take over. Rubbing, wiping or sanding away dried paint to expose forgotten layers underneath accentuate the rigidity of a medium often used and known for its malleability and fluidity. It became important to be disconnected from the found imagery I used to make these works; the less I knew about a reference image, the better. I then had more freedom to invent, shift or simply allow the image to be transformed into something new. This process being heavily dependent on chance is a crucial element that keeps me coming back to the studio. I seek relief from predictability and mundanity and because I am never sure how a painting will turn out, there is endless potential to be surprised, challenged or informed whilst working. Evident in the finished works is a ceaseless battle between keeping and losing the figure. Made up of buried layers of paint, line and worn away pigment, these figures seemed to assert themselves and stray from my control.