
About




About
Thank you for checking out my artwork!
I have always loved art, becoming obsessed with portraiture as I grew up. Despite having a range of interests, from sports to academia, art always held strong, even to the point of pursuing a Fine Art BA.
I found that the contemporary art world had become a bit lost in the postmodern era, and I decided to utilise that space to develop my style and become the artist who creates the art I would love to see.
I loved paintings with an expressive recognisable style, where you can see the touch of the artist in all his works. I especially loved this in portraiture, where the style depicts the artists perception of the subject. Looking at these type of paintings would make me feel as if I were seeing the world through the artists eyes.
When I paint I lose time, allowing my intuition to take over and my empathy to guide me in the capturing of the subject. I try to paint with a delicacy and politeness not wanting to over step. I look to gently discover the subject in the potential of the void, always playing with the minimalist principle of less is more (until it's not enough). In finding that magical balance there seems to be just enough information for the mind to project a living reality upon the painting and imbue it with a sense of soul. I look to facilitate this experience careful not to bog it down with too much detail.
There is a sense of transience in this style, as if I were capturing a fleeting glance. I love contrasting this with the raw materiality of the paint and surface. The tension between abstract expressionism and nuances of representational realism held a magic for me, where the viewer could shift paradigms between the iconography associated with the face and the present moment reality of the substance of the paint.
I was obsessed with capturing that moment of human connection: the experience of empathy through painting. The act of painting itself felt like a practice of empathy, where one is honestly capturing their perception of another. In turn, this allows the viewer to have their own experience of empathy with the subject through the vehicle of the painting constructed by the artist.
Thomas Aquinas put forward in his theory of the face-to-face connection that this 'moment of empathy'— where the other person becomes part of oneself—is the experiential foundation of all moral philosophy. The depth such an experience goes some way to explain my complete fascination with it.
There is more Theory on my original site: jsollyart.com if you are interested.
I have been painting for many years and have enjoyed allowing my style develop. The site is segmented into three key areas. The original is what I playfully refer to as the 'White Era', where I was looking a lot into the theory of the void and subjectivity or a figure/face/identity arising from it. This was where I really experimented with that minimalist style that became my signature. This style came complete with drips. These drips have become a defining aspect of the work and add to the themes of transience.
More recently I have moved into filling the canvas with brighter and bolder colours, creating a piece of abstract expressionism in it's own right, partly inspired by the beautiful work of Simon Kenny who sits on the mighty shoulders of Turner. But then challenged my self to lift one of my minimalist portraits from this vibrant abstract landscape. I loved the challenge and it has become the focus of my more current style. Entering the "Colourful Era"
After being introduced and commissioned to do some digital art in the notorious world of NFT's I discovered a love for digital art, which is so often dismissed by painting purists - myself included. I saw it as a worthy challenge to see if I could create something in this modern medium with the majesty and intricacy of a traditional painting. I came across artists that curated what they call digital mosaics and fell in love with them. From afar they flirt with photorealism but up close they break down into mosaic like segments, echoing the building blocks of code that make this medium possible.
This style contrasted so well with mighty animals that were on the verge of extinction, questioning the cost of such a digital movement. I've thoroughly enjoyed making them and am curious how they will be received.
Talking of the digital movement, I then discovered the magic of Print on demand companies and drop shipping. Seeing other artists like the inspiring Jacob Lund do so well independently online I decided to follow in their footsteps. I undertook the task of digitally capturing and rejuvenating my work over the last ten years, through careful editing, to curate a print of each of my paintings that most satisfyingly and closely captures the original.
Far from being laborious, the process allowed me to fall in love with a lot of my old art again, giving it a new life. This new set up feels like a true honouring of my art practise allowing all my favourite work to be accessible for the widest audience. I am very excited to share my creative world with you all, so thanks for reading and visiting and I hope you fall in love with the work, just as I have fallen in love with creating it.

"He has mastery of Minimalism..."

"He captures soul in the eyes..."

"The Print quality is amazing! It looks so powerful on my wall."

"Such amazing use of colour!"
