Nigel Smith

Leicester

My work lies somewhere between abstraction and naturalism. I think of them as ‘dreamscapes’—part memory, part imagination. I usually begin with images of natural elements such as flora and fauna or figurative elements. The finished works are sometimes purely abstract, sometimes more representational. The most successful ones have a mysterious, hard to read quality and a feeling of impermanence. The process is as important as the subject to me. I apply multiple layers over a long period of time, scratching and sanding back to reveal temporarily hidden elements that then inspire further marks.