Flying Above the Clouds

Print description

As I was flying home, the passenger sitting next to me curled up and slept in an interesting position. I thought it was picture-perfect, so I took out my pen and paper from my bag and recorded the scene in my sketchbook. When my unknown companion woke up and saw the sketch, they shouted, “Can I have it?” I let them take a photograph of it, knowing I wanted to add some colour to it later

Print details

Digital pigment print from original ink drawings. Printed on fine art paper using archival inks. Available in sizes A0,A1, A2, A3 or A4 as limited editions of 100. Each print is individually signed and numbered.

Costumbrismo and

Contemporary Costumbrismo Art

This work echoes many different sources: from Vuillard’s colourful depictions of the domestic interior. Many of which I saw at Pallant House Gallery in 2022, to the Alekos Fassianos Foundation I visited in Athens in the summer of 2023. It also draws inspiration from the recent exhibition in summer 2024 at Studio Voltaire in London, which featured a pairing of work by Beryl Cook and Tom of Finland.

I have been running a life drawing session in Brighton for many years; the depiction of the human form is something that fascinates me. Through these pieces, I aimed to express my own personal experience my own and the environment where I live.

Costumbrismo is the literary or pictorial depiction of local everyday life, customs, and mannerisms, primarily within Hispanic contexts, particularly during the 19th century. It connects to both artistic realism and Romanticism, sharing Romanticism’s interest in expression over simple representation, as well as the precise depiction of specific times and places characteristic of both Romanticism and realism, rather than an abstract portrayal of humanity. Often satirical and occasionally moralizing, Costumbrismo differs from mainstream realism in that it typically does not provide or suggest any particular analysis of the society it portrays. When not satirical, its treatment of charming folkloric details often has a romanticized quality. (Wiki source)