bown canal, holding back

This painting is an exploration of the land and our relationship to it, especially in relation to Britishness and a certain kind of withdrawal or holding back. The pylons in my work are like bodies, reaching out trying to connect with each other. Matt has created a dissonance between the subject - Nicholas Winton, painted in a moment of extreme emotion where the adults around him are revealed to be people he saved as children from the holocaust, and the kind of inability he has to really express it. Matt chose to paint him after seeing this moment and his complete inability to process what was going on and it made him think about the way we struggle to articulate ourselves, and trying to draw those feelings out within the context of this body of work.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Matt was the recipient of the Sovereign Art Foundation Guernsey Art Bursary from 2020-2023. Since graduating with a First Class Honours Degree in Fine Art, Matt is based in a studio in London - see www.graysmith.art