Often vibrant, sometimes contemplative, my work explores those moments when the past echoes in the present, abstracting experiences of place through filters of memories, dreams, associations and emotions.
I create images to make sense of the world as I move through it, mindful always of the ways in which the past affects my every experience. In doing so, fragmented landscapes and interiors emerge that cannot be placed in any specific time or location. Even so, they are somehow recognizable, both to me and (surprisingly) frequently to others. You may feel you know that place - that, perhaps, you've been there, even if you can't quite fix where or when. You may see things or feel a resonance that others cannot, yet miss elements that might seem so obvious to someone else. Paintings as portals - it's a fascinating thought.
It took me a long time to understand how the past can ground you, or unmoor you, in the present. I had always thought my paintings, drawings and prints were simply my responses to places and their histories. I now realize just how much those responses have been shaped by memory and association, both real and imagined. We are the sum of the stories we tell ourselves, as well as those that others have told to or about us, and we interpret the world around us through that filter.
Recent works draw on my own family history, its artifacts and ephemera, becoming more rooted in objects than landscape, yet that uncanny resonance remains as I rekindle my forty-year-old obsession with still life and the domestic space. Ultimately, art is always about time.
Back in the early 1980s, when I was studying Fine Art under the guidance of the wonderful artist, Graham Boyd, at the Hertfordshire College of Art and Design (or St Albans Art College as everyone knew it at the time), alongside all the painting and drawing, I particularly enjoyed printmaking and sculpture; both occasionally make a reappearance in my practice. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was a colourist. My conscious focus had always been on composition. Now, looking through old portfolios from those college years and the few years that followed I can see that my struggles to bring order to painterly chaos were always underpinned by an instinctual excitement about colour relationships.
Much later, following a move from Hertfordshire to Suffolk and becoming a parent, I re-trained as a Local Historian at the University of Oxford with a view to getting a 'proper job' and wrote a couple of books about landscape history that were well received. However, all of that academic endeavour, accidentally and somewhat ironically, brought about a rediscovery of my love of making when I needed to call on my creative training while working as a Heritage Education Officer for the county council. This eventually led to the formation, in 2004, of a community arts organization, West Suffolk Arts Centre CIC. Since then, I have led innumerable workshops, guided many young artists through their Arts Award qualifications, curated major projects for Arts Council England, and Suffolk County Council among others, as well as delivering public arts events of various sizes for a number of organisations. Yet, despite being immersed in creativity and the arts throughout that time, my own output was minimal. I was raising a family, some of the time on my own. Spare time did not exist.
When I was able to create at all, my work revolved around photography, sound art and the moving image, alongside being a creative producer and teacher. Then my body sent me a couple of wake-up calls that were so loud and dramatic I could not ignore them and which instantly re-ordered my priorities. My sons are grown and (semi) independent and I am excited to have rediscovered my love of mark-making and of applying colour to a flat surface. I like to think of myself as multi-disciplinary these days!
In 2023 I was fortunate to have my first solo show of paintings in over forty years. The response was extremely encouraging. Being a member of Suffolk Open Studios for the past few years definitely helped to give me the confidence to accept the opportunity at the Angle Gallery in Bury St Edmunds when it was offered and the SOS group shows are always amazing events to be part of.
It would be lovely to see you during the Open Studios event in June - I realize I'm rather on the edge of the map, my studio being close to the Norfolk border - but if you do make the trip over here there will be lots for you to see and I might even do an impromptu demo or two! There is absolutely no obligation to buy, I really love meeting and chatting to people who are interested in art, but if you do feel you can't leave without purchasing something, alongside the wall art, there's always a good range of very reasonably priced greetings cards on offer.
If you can't make it along to my studio, please do check out my website, leighdriver.com, or connect with me on social media @leighdriverart. I also have a blog where I post thoughts from my home studio. It's called Artist In Residence.
