Thomas Donaldson is an English painter whose visceral works are committed to a rigorous development and re-evaluation of his practice and are marked by a willingness to turn around his thinking during its development which gives it an excitement upon execution.
The portrait/nude has been a traditional subject within the history of painting, is easily recognisable, has been painted over and over. This familiarity with the subject and the ideal of beauty in an increasingly over photo-shopped media have led him to develop the process of painting through abstraction, mark making and impasto and at the end of the process there is still something that remains familiar although imperfect and slightly awkward.
The visceralworksare achieved through the application of thick impasto paint, dragging, smudging and staining the surface. All these elements contributeinthe process of making or constructing the painting.The works also acknowledge certain aspects of the existentialist premise that one cannot fully know or experience the reality of another person, and that this separateness underlies our daily consciousness.
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