Jon Doran

I’m interested in attempting to re-articulate traditional subject matter, such as landscape, still life and portraiture, and pull them through a lens of a digitally influenced, fragmented approach to painting.

I see each mark of paint holding a dual existence, being both abstract and representative. I want the viewer to know that it is a painting they are looking at and in no way do I want to deceive, but rather for it to be totally clear that the materialistic essence of my work is simply pigment applied to a flat surface. However, despite each stroke, mark and streak being essentially material, they are also at the same time representative of form and light – I bare this dualism in mind as I work.
I tend to paint different subjects based on my immediate surroundings, but recently woodland waterfall scenes have become a dominant interest, these scenes come from Yorkshire, Cornwall and France. This subject provides a wide range of elements all in one composition, which makes for an interesting work both in the making and the final outcome.
The aim is to hopefully make work that is successful on two levels, the visual and the conceptual. I want to make work that is both interesting to look at and think about. I’m intrigued at how some paintings of history, seem to have the ability of going beyond mere technicalities and superficially, but seem to begin to talk on a deeper level, namely what it is like to experience life – It is my aim to achieve this.