Professional Member Andrew Phillips
Professional MemberDetails
| First Name | Andrew |
| Last Name | Phillips |
| Username | andrewphillips |
| Website | |
| Region | Wales |
| Disciplines | Painting |
| Themes | Abstract, Landscape, Geometric, Environment |
Statement
| Statement | Drawing and painting techniques incorporating varied combinations of ink, graphite, acrylic, and pastel, form the heart of my practice. The style is a juxtaposition of focussed painting or mark making, and more gestural applications of paint, or crushed pastel—which is applied using the fingertips.
What might the earth, and its particular forms and places, be expressions of? This question is at the heart of my work, and the use of ‘landscape’ imagery is intended to evoke an experience of connection between the physical, and our sense of inner life, through which we are connected to the wider web of the the ‘more than human world.’
Many of the challenges we face today can be thought of in terms of a lost awareness around this eternal connection with all other life, and what may lie beyond. This materialises as an illusory sense of separation—from the ‘natural’ world, from other people, and even between parts of ourselves – causing us to feel conflicted.
Medicine for the kind of healing urgently required by the times in which we live, can be distilled through the reimagining of both the relationship between life and death—or more specifically, between the living and the dead— and the purpose of beauty and grief. In my work I focus on incorporating these two key elements.
The images I create inhabit this imaginal space, responding to the presence of the physical world, and an inner, more intangible expression of mystery. This is what draws me to the North, in both the geographic sense as a place of invigorating and wild spaces, and spiritually, where North can symbolise a transformative liminal space where natural and supernatural meet. Of all Nature’s forms, Mountains especially remind us of our capacity for awe, and wonder, as they exist between the finite and the eternal — the threshold of the known and unknown. For every north, there must be a south, and my evolving relationship with the South Downs of Sussex inspires much of my work.
I consider felt experiences of landscapes (and more defined locations of distinction), to be part of an intuitive relating with the land as entity, the ‘spirit of place’ or genius loci with its own unique form of sentience—not merely a consequence of our own human projections—expressions of the Numinous in their own right. |
Biography
| Biography | Andrew was born (1985) and grew up in Worthing, on the coast of Sussex, between sea and the South Downs, in proximity to the nearby iron age hillforts of Cissbury, and Chanctonbury. After more than twenty years of walking and relating with these and other locations across the county, Andrew maintains a deep connection to Sussex, expressed in many of his works.
Whilst studying Fine Art: Contemporary Media at the University of South Wales (2005-2008), Andrew became aware of the propensity towards healing inherent in nature, through the spoil heaps remaining from the coal mining industry. Noticing how these were beginning to form part of a new landscape, and becoming home to plants and animals anew, this theme of woundedness and healing in the outer landscape resonated with a growing interest in psyche and spirituality.
After returning to Sussex Andrew began to work in the field of mental health and social care, which has been an ongoing commitment ever since. To bring together an interest in the healing potential within art, and depth psychology, Andrew studied Art Psychotherapy at Goldsmiths College, London (2010-2013).
In 2015 Andrew acted on a long held desire to move north, pulled by a closer proximity to wilder, more mountainous landscapes, which developed over the course of many visits to the country since childhood. The five years in which he lived in Edinburgh were formative to his art practice, and during this time he exhibited work in a range of settings; including joint shows— Kenris MacCleod (A Darkening Thread – 2018), Rowan Paton (Before We Were Even Dreamed – 2017)—and often with Visual Arts Scotland, and The Society of Scottish Artists – to which he was elected as a Professional Member in 2019. Andrew also participated in the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics, and his work has been published in their journal Stravaig.
During March 2020, which coincided with the developing Covid-19 pandemic, Andrew returned to live in Newport, south east Wales—the place where his interests in landscape, healing, and art, first began to assimilate into what would form the focus of his ongoing work. In addition to his art practice, Andrew works as an Art Psychotherapist in independent practice with children and adults.
Andrew was shortlisted for the Visual Arts Scotland x Bothy Project residency on Eigg, 2021.
Exhibitions
2021 Re:Connect – Invited Artist, Society of Scottish Artists – Online exhibition Royal Scottish Academy Annual Open – Online exhibition
2020 FLOW – Visual Arts Scotland – Online exhibition Tides Changing | Changing Tides – Society of Scottish Artists – Online exhibition 30 x 30 – Society of Scottish Artists – Online exhibition TERRA – M.A.D.E, Cardiff Borders Art Fair, Kelso – Visual Arts Scotland ‘Spotlight’.
2019 Society of Scottish Artists & Visual Arts Scotland ‘Open’ – RSA, Edinburgh Royal Scottish Academy Annual Open – RSA, Edinburgh Royal West of England Academy Annual Open – RWA, Bristol Visual Arts Scotland ‘Alight’ – Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2018 Society of Scottish Artists Annual Exhibition – Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh Edinburgh Art Fair – Society of Scottish Artists stand A Darkening Thread (with Kenris MacLeod) – Coburg House, Edinburgh Garden Room Gallery, art.earth, Dartington Hall
2017 ‘At The Edge Of Your Senses’ (solo) – Detail Framing Studio, Edinburgh ‘Before We Were Even Dreamed’ (with Rowan Paton Risby) – Whitespace, Edinburgh Spring Group Show – House for an Art Lover (Cafe gallery), Glasgow
2016 ‘Knowing Another is Endless’ (solo) – Cameo Picturehouse, Edinburgh Society of Scottish Artists, annual show – Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh Royal Scottish Academy Open – Edinburgh Identity Through Landscape’ – House for an Art Lover (Cafe gallery), Glasgow ‘Stuffed’ – Newave Gallery, Aberdeen |