The Destruction of Anything Familiar

WCAF2014 winner Ian Rayer-Smith opens his winning solo exhibition at The Gallery at Bank Quay House.

Ian first picked up a brush at the age of 38 because 'I was bored'.  He works alone, completely isolated, creating sometimes surreal images that on first glance to some are difficult, yet there is an underlying sensitivity. It’s important for Ian that a painting has emotional impact, if not it’s erased or rejected. When things get heavy he likes to lighten it up with a whimsical mark or gesture.

Ian is inspired by the Abstract Expressionists, and their ability to evoke powerful feelings just by how colour is used, or the way paint is applied to canvas, this pure freedom of expression parallels with his own work.  For Ian, a painting must look like a painting: "When I’m painting it connects me to man’s foremost form of expression, and that excites me. I’m creating a version of the world as I see it, experiences I have had, expect or want to have.  I like the viewer to encounter these but not necessarily get the same experience.  The fusion of the abstract and the figurative leaves everything open to different interpretations."

See more of Ian's work here www.ianrayersmith.com