Artworks by Ben McLeod

I often compose my paintings with thick, textured paint - loosely applied. I wish to convey a sense of place, and the physical process of mark-making I employ is an engagement with the environment around me. After sketches and photographs used as reference I prefer to paint and draw quickly and instinctively. My work is a visual diary, a desire to capture a sense of the vitality and living quality of the landscape around me - a response to knowing what it is like to be in the landscape - a personal response to seeing and feeling the effects of the light and weather.

My art is not a complete rejection of Modernist ideology from my undergraduate studies, but essentially I paint because I want to paint. The formal qualities of my painting and drawing is important - an aesthetic in response to the aesthetic of the environment around me.