Simon Kirk

I exhibited and sold at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2010.
In 2011 I had a successful solo exhibition in Denmark and I am
currently showing work in Flagstaff, Arizona. In August 2012, I will
be exhibiting at ‘Art Hvide Sande’, a two week art exhibition and
festival in the harbour town of Hvide Sande on the west coast of
Denmark.

My work draws from images and text collected in my sketchbooks which
through free association create playful abstractions. I am interested
in narrative, specifically the ambiguous, subjective ‘hidden’
narrative - glimpses of an altogether different narrative order; where
the 'story' remains oblique or partial, ambiguous and undeclared. The
work is multidirectional and open ended. Meaning is inherent but
impossible to pin down precisely.

Perhaps to describe best how I see it would be to say that I play the
role of set designer. I create the environment and provide the
players. Elements of text where present act as set direction. The
viewer becomes the director, who uses all the information before them
to create the play. That the resulting story could be different for
everyone is something that fascinates me.

The work is primarily layers of painting combined with collaged
elements. However, I also use the decollage technique - cutting,
tearing or sanding away parts of the built up surface image to reveal
layers below.

Much of my work is on a small scale format because it offers the
freedom to explore a range of painting possibilities very quickly. I
combine this work with larger pieces based on the same material.

Website:
http://www.simonkirkfineart.com/