Statement
"My paintings offer ‘glimpsed’ or half-remembered figures and faces – re-imagined people standing on the edge of living memory, rescued from a personal archive of the forgotten.
I’m drawn to historical images that are slightly out of my time, or maybe from my time but when I was young – that way my response can be more detached. Having devised a composition that resonates I embark on a quest to unlock the essence in a way that is somehow extra-visual. This journey of development and discovery can take anything from 5 days to 5 years until a kind of alchemy takes place and things seem to harmonise of their own accord in a way that can be very rewarding.
I like to paint in an expressionistic way using rags and sponges because the physical marks and textures are a fundamental element of what I’m trying to achieve. The challenge for me though is to retain an economy of execution – an effortless effort.
After studying art at Hornsey College of Art and Middlesex University in London I worked as a record sleeve artist – but for the last 25 years I’ve focused entirely on painting, developing a way of working that continues to evolve."
David Storey