Gareth Spurling

Lives and works in Berlin, Germany

Artist statement

The subject of my work is essentially metaphysical in nature. It is an attempt to bridge the dichotomy of matter and spirit: our perception of how things appear in the phenomenal world of material objects, and how they actually are. As my work addresses and explores the nature of reality and human perception of it, the starting point by definition must be reality. For this reason I tend to eschew photographs and digital imagery as source material, and wherever possible paint directly from the figure (the portraits/figure studies), or from drawings taken or derived from figures, objects and architectural spaces (the more complex multi-figured compositions). In the case of the portraits, likeness and the outward façade that individuals present to the world is merely a jumping off point, as I am focused on capturing something much more psychological: I paint pictures of people and not of photographs. Further, for me, there is little point in making two-dimensional images of already existing two-dimensional images, as however technically well-executed the painting is, the form is lost and figures appear flattened and therefore somehow lifeless. I strive to create the opposite effect, a certain density of form which lends an idea of solidity, physicality and mass to not only the human figures, but also to any surrounding objects and the spaces that lie between. Although the paintings typically possess a narrative or allegorical current, it is the feel of each piece individually...

Artwork