Sublime Worlds

“The only lasting truth is change” began the renowned author Octavia E. Butler in her 1993 dystopian novel Parable of the Sower. Adaptability in the midst of dystopia is the guiding force for her characters, and it’s a theme that threads through many of our New Blood Art Masters’ works. 

You can browse all Master artists here. Artists in this section have received recognition in the forms of prizes, awards and residencies; they work full-time as artists committed to developing their practice. 

Whether through scenic paintings or abstract optical illusions these artists have a feel for embodying the movement and adjustments we ever make to stabilise. For example, Sara Willett’s mesmerising pieces elevate the patterns of domestic life – see the humble check of J-cloth – into a dizzying abstract spectacle of flexibility and rhythm.

Although working within a different tradition, Charlotte Brisland’s dystopian landscapes similarly reflect a sense of amplified drama – but in (future?) deserted worlds. Empty but not without spectacle, violet skies and vermillion moons cast both promise and doom against spotlit scenes that ask us to pace ourselves within them. How would you move through such a land?

Christian Neuman also plays with a sense of catastrophe – splicing bold colours with meaningful statements that slalom down his canvases. See the the ominous financial advice to ‘Buy the Dip’ twisting against golden yellows, pinks and tar-black acrylic. 

Elsewhere Sax Impey reflects a true sea-change in his hyper-realistic Gulf Stream seascapes. Waves are exquisitely rendered in all their tactility and flux. Placed on dry land – in any room – these original pieces act as awesome reminders of the majesty of nature in all its continuity.