Bio
Adam Shaw, an artist based in Middlesbrough, UK, unfolds his artistic journey through distinct creative phases in painting and printmaking. His process encompasses on-site photography, digital editing, 3D modelling, and more, giving life to works. Transitioning between bodies of work, a dual collage approach emerges—physical and digital—conveying diverse ideas. Reimagining scenes through archival photography, surroundings and intertextuality, his art dismantles narratives, fostering fresh emotional connections. Beyond reality's limits, Adam's paintings become conduits to the imagination, inviting introspection. Guided by nature's muse, his spontaneity and experimentation yield unexpected revelations. Figures in his frames incite dialogue, making viewers co-authors, creating unique encounters where reality and imagination merge.
Paintings
My practice is rooted in the realms of painting and printmaking, a journey that unfolds from a sequence of creative phases. Through the process of on-site photography, digital editing, 3D modelling, printmaking, drawing, and painting studies, my work begins to take form. As I transition between distinct bodies of work, a dual approach to collage—both physical and digital—emerges to convey a diverse range of ideas. Central to my creative journey is the reimagining of scenes through the prism of archival photography/media archaeology.
In my reinterpretation an intertextual approach unfurls, dismantling established narratives and birthing alternative interpretations. This deliberate engagement with intertextuality expands the horizons of interpretation, eliciting fresh emotional resonances and avenues of understanding. By rupturing the constraints of reality, I craft paintings that serve as conduits to the realm of imagination, inviting viewers to introspective sojourns of their own.
The pursuit lies not in the replication of nature's visage but in the emulation of its untamed essence. This reverence for nature as a muse inspires a creative approach rooted in spontaneity and experimentation. Through this unfiltered engagement, intention and chance partake in an organic dance, leading to unexpected revelations throughout the artistic process.
Within the frames of my work, figures inhabit spaces fraught with ambiguity, effectively inciting a dialogic interplay with the observer. This orchestrated uncertainty necessitates the viewer's active participation, rendering them co-authors and co-interpreters of the narrative. Thus, each engagement with my art becomes a profoundly subjective and singular encounter, the embodiment of collaboration between spectator and creator.
Rather than a mere replication of reality, my objective as an artist is to transgress the boundaries that demarcate the tangible from the intangible. In this pursuit, I strive to transcend conventional perspectives and facilitate an intricate exchange of temporal dimensions. The viewer is beckoned to navigate the juncture where reality intermingles with the realm of imagination, surrendering themselves to the narrative pull of fiction.
Drawings - Oil on paper, A3
