Josh Hollingshead
Josh Hollingshead is a self taught artist living and working in Swanage, Dorset. His work is predominantly figurative with strong narratives that reflect socio-political situations in the places he has visited.
Starting at the age of 14 he began drawing by copying the Old Masters, and at 16 he moved on to painting on canvas, dedicating himself to painting, studying art and art history.
He adapts his technique for each new painting; be it through use of metallic underlayers and/or phosphorescent acrylic, for creating glow in the dark images, viscous thick oils or powdery paint rubbed into the canvas.
The symbolism of colours fascinates him tremendously and he broadens his palette by understanding the chemistry of pigments.
The large scale and varied, heightened colour of his canvases create a sense the spectator could enter the painting, wherein myriad vignettes tell a story, and details at the margins of a scene reveal hidden meanings.
Hollingshead has gradually developed several series of paintings on social, religious and environmental themes.
