2010 Catlin Art Guide

Portraiture and the recognisable silhouette of a head and bust is a motif I have kept constant throughout my work. The shape is reminiscent of a keyhole and placed within an oval format it allows me to connect the viewer to a tradition of painting firmly rooted in the past. However, through using high key colour to imbue the painting with almost acidic and lurid quality, the imagery becomes “updated”.

The characters depicted often have an intangible quality to them, an ephemeral and ethereal visual weight. They become signifiers to other paintings, memories or emotional states. My lattice of influence ranges from ephemera such as collectable football stickers from the late 80s and early 90s to outmoded prosthetics and special effects from horror films such as Total Recall, John Carpenter’s The Thing to the BBC test card. The insertion of these influences into a dialogue with art historical tradition means the work stands outside of time, pointing in multiple directions at once.