JAMES HAWKE
Oil painting
“I’ve never had a problem getting into the right frame of mind, because it’s all I ever do, it’s so habitual.”
James Hawke has painted and drawn as his full time occupation since college. His work has developed over that time, with his practice solely being painting and preparatory drawing.
"Everything I have painted in the past informs what I paint now, on a subconscious level. Going back to childhood, the colourways, composition, all synthesise into the present."
Poolside is a project that has dominated James Hawke’s work since 1998. It is shorthand for images which describe the illusory world printed on the pages of holiday brochures. In particular James is interested in the colour and theatrical nature of Mediterranean tourist destinations and beaches across the world. Each painting can take up to two months, comprising hundreds of shapes painted using a highly controlled, flat technique.
Specifically it is the human relationships within these complex patterns of body, Lycra and landscape that interests James. They are places where the everyday is suspended and, through the paintings, random and intense communities emerge.