Jonathan Peter Smith Imagini

My art is very physically involved and lived in, and a painting usually results from months of struggle, within that 'hard-won image' tradition that follows from Frank Auerbach to Constable to Cezanne. My paintings are small, glowing, intense, made up of complex layers, with visually and texturally rich surfaces. I try to get right at the heart of the subject matter to express its essence. 'Mother and Son', for example has thin transluscent layers of soft tender brushwork whilst'Christ is Nailed', or 'Exhaustian and Agony' both have war-torn surfaces, with violent incisions, scarrings and scrapping of paint to reflect the actual subject matter. Often I method act the actual subject, for instance 'Exhaustion and Agony' was created when I was actually mentally exhausted by depression, 'Mother and Son' reflects my love of my Mother and comes through.