Michael Gustavius Payne

Artist statement

My work is strongly based in the European tradition of painting.

I strive to make work that is firstly meaningful. Hopefully a degree of innovation will naturally develop from this process. I don't strive to be different for the sake of difference.

The meaning in my work is more about the question rather than the answer. A reflection of the world as I see it. Both universal and intrinsically personal. I often draw reference from mythology (especially Welsh and Greek) and from contemporary culture. My interest in mythology is due to its power as archetypal, often unconscious, symbols of the human predicament.

My medium of choice is usually oil paint but also other painting and drawing media. The direct nature of making a mark is hugely significant to my work, and my understanding of the artistic process. Both stripping down the act of making to it's essentials, with little paraphernalia, being direct and immediate, while also intellectually drawing reference to our first artistic creations, as a species and as individuals.

I love the direct, simple approach of mark making and creating something form combining marks. And to do this in a meaningful manner is something that I find hugely compelling, and rewarding.