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Peter Soye
Art Forms
Painting
Artist information
My painting utilizes a figurative and often narrative style, with much use of symbols and allegory, in order to record and comment on the absurdity of the world around us. The themes examined sometimes have a significant autobiographical content, and the nature of connections is a frequent subject.
The primary medium for my work is oils on canvas, with printed matter, photographs and other objects occasionally subsumed into the plastic surface of the painting. The inclusion of such items not only hints at alternative aspects of the ideas being explored, but also contributes to the structure and form of the painting and emphasizes the primacy of the paint surface. In this way, I attempt to build up multi-layered signifiers, but just as in our own quotidian experience, not all of these signifiers may be valid and some may even be misleading!
My long fascination with art history and the history of ideas is reflected in the wide range of source material in my work, from the Sienese painters of the 14th century, through the painters of the Northern Renaissance to 20th century artists as diverse as Max Beckmann, Balthus and recent British painters such Steven Campbell, Peter Howson and Bill Jacklin. I also frequently allude to literary and musical sources, along with technical data and scientific concepts, to hint at the different levels of reality inherent in a given phenomenon.
Over the past two decades, I have exhibited work across the U.K., including London and the Royal West Academy in Bristol. In Worcester, a selection of my work may be seen at the Fine Art Gallery based in the old Market Hall on the Shambles.