Andrew Stott
Andrew Stott uses stencils to create contemporary artworks.
I first started painting using stencils, after seeing some of Banky's first stencils in and around Bristol in 1998, they intrigued me but also made me feel I could use this medium to get out my own message. In 2001 after three years painting and running on the streets my interest grew in what I could actually achieve in terms of technique and content.
What I discovered was an art practise where I could make whole any idea I had, but crucially quickly and in a graphically stunning way.
Mainly due to economic necessity I was looking for a way to take my street work and transfer to a gallery wall, the fridge door was a serendipitous discovery that allowed my work and others to expand to where it is now. The fridge door was at first a free canvas, but it very quickly became an aesthetic that plays with the ideas of found objects, recycling and waste but without me having to shout about it or explain its significance.
Many people ask me about the inspiration and content of my work, in truth the paintings form themselves often leaving me behind, surprised at the outcome. I have learnt to listen to what other people see in the pieces as they far exceed my attempts at my own explanation. To me my work is how I make whole the questions, needs and desires to communicate that I have, I'm compelled to paint what is happening around me and the world we live in.
I first started painting using stencils, after seeing some of Banky's first stencils in and around Bristol in 1998, they intrigued me but also made me feel I could use this medium to get out my own message. In 2001 after three years painting and running on the streets my interest grew in what I could actually achieve in terms of technique and content.
What I discovered was an art practise where I could make whole any idea I had, but crucially quickly and in a graphically stunning way.
Mainly due to economic necessity I was looking for a way to take my street work and transfer to a gallery wall, the fridge door was a serendipitous discovery that allowed my work and others to expand to where it is now. The fridge door was at first a free canvas, but it very quickly became an aesthetic that plays with the ideas of found objects, recycling and waste but without me having to shout about it or explain its significance.
Many people ask me about the inspiration and content of my work, in truth the paintings form themselves often leaving me behind, surprised at the outcome. I have learnt to listen to what other people see in the pieces as they far exceed my attempts at my own explanation. To me my work is how I make whole the questions, needs and desires to communicate that I have, I'm compelled to paint what is happening around me and the world we live in.
See gallery HERE
