Colin Scott | Artist's Statement

Artist's Statement
My paintings refer to states and situations which exist somewhere between fantasy and reality. They don't attempt to define or fully describe; they are made of paint, they grow and develop out of paint.
I live and work in West Cornwall, in an area of outstanding natural beauty; open moors, rocky outcrops, rugged cliffs, wide windswept beaches and continually changing seas. It is also a relatively small area, inhabited by a cosmopolitan and fluctuating population often generating intense and, occasionally, overbearing social interchanges. An awareness of these two conditions and an attraction to this duality are kind of sources from which my work often springs.
I have tried in these paintings to investigate a state of being which lies below the surface of reality. Although I am not interested in external appearances I deliberately use certain associations and emblematic devices to evoke suggestions of atmosphere and mood.
There is also the question of 'self' — some of the imagery of the paintings is drawn, in fragmentary and episodic form, from aspects of my own life, from my 'inner self'. I hope though that the 'self' part of this inner self is not entirely exclusive to me. I refer to common self — which deals with inner states, subconscious fantasies and conscious reveries.
How the viewer wishes to spend their time in & with the paintings is entirely up to them. No words I offer should affect their response or interpretation.