Vortex XVI, 2022

Daniel Loveday  

Artist Statement:

I'm as much a storyteller as an artist. My passion is to tell the story of humanity's environmental destruction, a consumer society which I believe will eventually consume us.

I feel that my work is genuinely unique and you can only realise that by looking at the subject matter, in fact it must be unique because of all the available style tag words on your site none precisely fit my work.

I think of myself as a symbolist like Heironymous Bosch except his symbols were about religious subjects while mine is about the spiritual connection, or lack of it, with our environment. I don't think of myself as a surrealist, even though the label is often more convenient to allow others to understand what I do. Surrealism portrays the subconscious whereas I deliberately group apparently random imagery to give the viewer an insight. For instance, the symbolism of characters eating money is deliberate and conveys a specific message about our unsustainable consumer society.

I could also be described as 'Phantasmagorical', I only learnt of the word Phantasmagorical recently but I have been creating phantasmagorical art all my life.

Education:

I did two years foundation and began an art degree which I never finished. My mum died in a car crash just prior to starting the degree and I simply lost the will to do art. Thirty years later I've started again where I left off. In those thirty years I was mostly a graphic designer, a writer of musicals and an auxiliary nurse

Awards & Distinctions:

I've only been an artist for a few years but have been a full time professional artist now for 16 months which I feel is quite an accomplishment in itself, especially considering the niche subject matter I do. Few artist can honestly say it's their only income.

Exhibitions:

none

Professional/Teaching Experience:

I was a professional graphic designer and did a lot of illustration work as part of this. Most of the illustration work was of things like birds and animals on interpretation boards.

Artistic Influences:

Artists that have inspired me: Roberto Matta, Heironymous Bosch, Max Ernst, William Blake, Turner, John Martin