Josh
Josh’s practice spans portraiture, landscape, and abstraction, each an exploration of the psyche. Charcoal is his favourite medium for its texture, intensity, and “how it moves and flows.” He describes the depth of black as “bold and intense,” often using it alongside dark blues, greens, and reds, with flashes of white that “amplify the darker colours.” Oil paint is another key material, often layered thickly to create physical, visceral surfaces. “I like to use art as a tool to convey powerful emotions such as sadness, distress and frustration… by capturing these emotions, I am able to channel them outside of myself.” His portraits may reflect himself or others, carrying “a sense of distress that other people might relate and connect with. I like the idea that other people might not feel alone.”
Original Art:
Josh in the studio:
This body of work is an approach to portraiture. The final portraits are called ‘The disrupted person’ and The disrupted person part two'.’
The ‘Disrupted person’ was created using oils and ink, and created from Joshua’s imagination.
‘I was using oils to make an abstract portrait series of dark emotion but also using the technique of making a portrait differently.’
‘The Disrupted person part two’ was created with ink, chalk and charcoal, starting from an abstract base which variation are displayed here, made by using different mark making tools, such as a ink brush on a string. The process can be seen below.
29 × 21 cm
Drypoint Etching
“The two of these artworks explore the science of lucid dreaming. Each individual work shows distorted figures, one emerging from the ground and the other standing on the ceiling which demonstrates a world that is upside-down.”