I am consistently drawn towards the ugliest and most unusual aspects of nature, which inspire my creative expression. I am obsessed with nature’s structural diversity and the surprises it has to offer, and have developed an entirely imagined world of forms drawn from an aquatic reality.

Formations that grow, mutate and interact across my canvasses are not constrained by the two-dimensional structural limitations familiar to us land based mammals. Instead they search in every direction for their form, rejoicing in their weightless environment and disregarding the oppressive restraints of gravity. The often humorous, almost cartoon-like quality in much of my work serves to distance us from, and yet also heighten the sense of the grotesque that lurks behind my brushstrokes. I aim to confront the viewer with images that are difficult to digest and yet always manage to retain a certain fascinating beauty.

I refuse to stick to any particular style, preferring to let the element of surprise articulate the layers of paint and the colour harmonies and clashes in my work. The paintings always develop as a natural, evolutionary process thereby avoiding the manifestos and imperatives that could stem the flow from the imagination to the canvas.

Joey Holder