Parallax Art Fair

Kensington Town Hall, London

Friday 22nd- Sunday 24th October 2021

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Parallax Art Fair has been held in London 30 times at three different locations since 2009, they are independently owned and managed by creative people, they have worked with over 9000 exhibitors over the years.

October 2021 was my first Art Fair to exhibit in, I didn’t know what to expect from an exhibitors side, I have been to fairs as a visitor at the receiving end of it but not the artist sharing my work. So when preparing for the show I reflected back on when I was visiting shows to visualise and plan what I needed to do.

Now the show has finished I recommend anyone thinking of giving it a go, to just do it! It was daunting to start with but very fulfilling and I came away feeling very inspired.

The piece of work I exhibited is called ‘Green fingers’ and is made up of 8X 15x15cm, 6X 10x10cm canvases and a larger wooden board with stretched canvas on measuring 60x40cm. The smaller canvases hung on the wooden board mirroring how I would paint from canvas to wall on a larger scale.

‘Green Fingers’ is uniquely small, the bonus about this piece is it’s very likely to fit in your home on any wall space you have. Unlike my large scale work which requires moving furniture around! For me painting small is very strange and quite challenging, I love staring back at a blank canvas standing proud as big as me ready to make the first mark. Smaller works are rare for me and have a whole different feel which is a good thing because people will react differently to these than they do to the large. My paintings can be hung in any orientation you like. I prefer the buyer of my work to choose which orientation they hang it. It doesn't matter to me as when I paint I also rotate the canvas, it’s a method Willem De Kooning did, he inspired me to think about the canvas being more than a flat 2D surface. Buying art is a personal choice and can come with emotion, so I encourage viewers to interact and experience their own journey with the work.

My paintings have no boundaries when it comes to physically painting them. I enjoy to paint on all given surface, why does it have to stop at the canvas edge? Painting on a large scale allows me to create an immersive experience, inviting viewers into the studio when the painting was created. ‘In Situ’. Imagine this but on a much larger scale so that you can walk into the painting being fully immersed. For me it makes me feel very small, and also impressed by the paintings size. A little intimidating but I thrive of that feeling and get a sense of encouragement, by the paining itself especially when its blank. During the show I was keen to learn how viewers interpreted the painting and what it reminded them of on this small scale.

I chose to use a combination of greens, blues and yellows with a hint of white because at the time those were the colours that spoke to me. I enjoy listening to the painting as it progresses and allow it to tell me what is needed, I allow the paint to just be paint, doing what it does best. If it wants to drip down the surface or if the colours bleed together I allow it to happen as I enjoy the suspense and not knowing how the painting will turn out.

I loved listening to viewers feedback at the fair and learning from them, I had some really good conversations. One in particular said I should remove one of the smaller canvases on top to reveal the marks and blank space behind, they tell a story and give you an insight into the process of the painting.

Overall I had a great experience at the fair and will hopefully join Parallax again.