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Biography

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Anjana Dey-Clark is a figurative artist based in Leeds.  She pursues art whilst juggling the roles of being a mother, wife and teacher. She has painted and drawn ever since she could hold a pencil. Born in Calcutta, India, Anjana came to England aged 4 and a half and despite following a different educational and career path, art remained a constant factor throughout her life. Recently, discovering she had more time on her hands, Anjana grasped the opportunity to study for an Art Degree and thereby developed her creative, academic and professional skills. She achieved an excellent grade which gave her confidence and self-belief in her abilities as an artist. Anjana’s early works were design orientated with an illustrative quality and eclectic in terms of style and subject, but over the years they have developed into mature, rounded pieces. Anjana enjoys exploring new techniques and mediums though  works predominantly in acrylic and oils. Her style is identified in larger pieces by expressive brushstrokes, bold colour choice and visible textures. Her miniature work shows more defined brushstrokes and softer tonal variations. Currently, Anjana is working on self-initiated projects to build a current, cohesive and comprehensive portfolio of work and, because she is always evolving as an artist, she undertakes various courses to consolidate and enhance her artistic practice. Anjana created her own website and social media pages which she manages and updates regularly. She exhibits and sells her work at art fairs and galleries and takes on  private and commercial commissions.

Artist Statement

“ A painter paints the appearance of things, not their objective correctness, in fact s/he creates new appearances of things.”  

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German Expressionist from the Die Brucke group)

 

Key Words: Inspiration, Intuition, Passion, Freedom, Brave

USP: Unique and original art with a spiritual, earthy quality and vitality.

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My Practice - Who I am 

          I am a figurative expressionist artist specialising in nature subjects.  My ultimate goal is to share with others my passion for nature through the medium of paint thereby raising awareness of the beauty of our world. My artworks are a way to bring the outside in as a constant reminder of how precious our world is and how we must look after it. As I’m always up for a challenge, I actively strive to stretch  the boundaries of my art skills and knowledge by doing courses, devouring informative literature and programmes on art history, researching other artists, visiting galleries and participating in art events. I apply my learning by working on self-initiated projects, taking on commissions and workshops and entering exhibitions and competitions.  I do most of my work in my home studio, painting from photos or composing a still-life, developing and interpreting the original picture giving my own interpretation of the form and structure of the subject. Armed with a sketchbook and drawing or painting materials, I explore the wider arts scene  through sketches and simple studies of real experiences when being out and about.  I often have more than one artwork on the go as I am always brimming over with ideas. 

        My artwork has developed and matured over the years. Previously, it covered an eclectic range of subjects, styles, and techniques because I was discovering myself as an artist and, though I like exploring new subjects and ways of creating art, I am consolidating my works to develop a distinctive brand. My pieces are sensitive renditions that are striking through the use of colour, form, line, and texture. I set up my own website and social media pages to attract more viewers but I most enjoy engaging directly with the public when exhibiting and selling my work at art and craft fairs and at galleries and taking on private commissions. 

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My Process - How I work

      My process is essentially an organic one and is adapted according to the subject being created. Sometimes, I draw the basic composition in pencil, charcoal or a neutral paint colour and, once satisfied with the basic form and composition, I build on this by layering colours, tone and shading to create a 3D effect on a 2D surface. Other times, I instinctively paint the picture without preliminary drawings using underpainting as a guide to the composition and work on that to develop it into a finished piece. I have ‘happy accidents’ where I make a mark or produce a particular effect unintentionally and can’t remember how I did it and it is this what makes the process so exciting and exhilarating.  I will abandon traditional perspective and veer away from perfect symmetry if the composition requires it, preferring instead preciseness in brushwork and detailed images.

      I apply paint in layers using the impasto technique, adding and removing until a balance is reached which creates a palimpsest effect showing how the piece is developed.  I use a similar approach to drawing where an image is drawn, erased, and redrawn many times before completion. I find painting the negative spaces around my subject is the most effective in getting a verisimilitude. Through my work I aim to make an image that is striking from a distance yet still rewards scrutiny up close. When creating large pieces,  I like to delineate my forms with clarity using hard lines and defined form. I employ loose, expressive  brushstrokes and striking colours giving my work a sense of drama and movement.  By contrast when creating smaller pieces, my technique is to use purposeful, intricate brushwork, subtle tonal variations and soft colour combinations. 

        I experiment with different mediums because I believe that working in a single medium is restrictive to my artistic process as each idea manifests in its own individual style, requiring a particular medium. The majority of my paintings are in oil and acrylic though I love using charcoal and chalk pastels because of their powdery texture and the ease of blending colours to create tone and definition. One of my favourite mediums is Gouache which is an exciting mix between watercolour and acrylic and works well in creating figurative work depicting social subjects.  A common thread in my paintings is the use  of bold, vibrant colour and of light and dark tones giving them a solid, earthy feeling. The colours which recur in my work are green, the colour of nature and significant because it is calming, symbolising nurture, growth, positivity; blue because it is uplifting and fresh; yellow, the colour of happiness and solidarity and purple because it signifies spirituality, peace and a kind of regalness to lift the mood above the ordinary every day.

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My Inspiration - What Kind of Work I Do

         There are three main areas of inspiration for me. Nature is the main one because I enjoy capturing scenes of natural beauty from wide, sweeping vastness of colour in landscapes, sunsets and sunrises to intricate, delicate details in flowers, solid, rusticity of trees and real, imagined or whimsical depictions of animals.  Flowers are a recurring subject because they are acknowledged to be symbolic of human emotions such as gratitude, love, loyalty, support - qualities that motivate me so when I feel an emotional need, I paint a flower to represent that need.  Similarly, animals and birds hold a symbolic significance representing major values and traits of human emotions.

        In contrast to the theme of Nature, I am also inspired to paint people and urban landscapes. The motivation comes from nostalgia for my own heritage and also the heritage of other communities, and moreover, having been born and brought up in towns and cities, I have a real interest in urban life.  I love to observe people, capturing moments in time, the atmosphere of an event and a place busy with human activity and existence such as cafes, festivals and carnivals in paintings and drawings. Travel is another huge influence  where my experience of countries like Bali,  India and New York are captured in simple, watercolour and pastel sketches and are an inspiration for future collections.  These works have a narrative where a story is told through images and seeks to evoke the essence of emotion and joy in the viewer. 

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My Philosophy: Why I Do What I Do

     I practice Art because I see it as an opportunity to capture things, situations, events for posterity in their original state or bloom before time dissipates it.  I create works that represent real objects and are an impression of how the object appears to me rather than a photographic representation of that reality.  The work exists because if I find something interesting in the composition of a subject, I have to capture it in an art form. This ranges from animals and birds in intriguing poses, landscapes with a central focus, the shapes made by plants or leaves on a tree to the image of  a bunch of flowers in a vase or studying the form and textures of boughs, rocks or stones.  My art is an homage to, and an appreciation of the natural world. Plants and animals embody the essential concept of life and death and therefore echoes the human state.  So, essentially, my work represents the concept of life and living and could be viewed as a collection of the beautiful and the ordinary in our world, an appreciation of the man-made and the natural. 

     My artworks convey how I see, feel and interpret the experience of being alive and being human and also an expression of my personality which comes through in my choice of subject matter and style.  I view life as a journey and capturing nature in art form is a spiritual, empathetic act.  I regard art as a form of therapy because when I paint, I can be my true self.  Ultimately,  I want my work to be a lasting record of my life  and my experiences and to show that I have observed and responded to the world directly and honestly, without agendas.

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