Paul Kessling

Paul was born in Dundee, Scotland (1965), and currently lives in Oxfordshire, UK. In 1987, he graduated with a BA (Hons) in Sculpture from the Wimbledon School of Art, and in 1989, under the tutelage of Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, he was awarded an MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art.

His practice took an unexpected turn while studying the Moai on Rapa Nui (Easter Island statues) on a travel scholarship. Due to a lack of space, he purchased bottles of French ink. From this moment on, he chose colour and the two-dimensional surface as his medium to convey our relationship with the natural world.

Struck by the immediacy of oil sketches by British artist John Constable during a visit to London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, Paul began a painting process he describes as starting “with a field of moving paint, working fast, everything changing, moving, dissolving: hunting for structure by way of letting go.” In his previous paintings of wind-slammed storms or delicately calibrated impressions of light falling on a cloud-mottled sea, he developed his wet-in-wet technique and expressionistic brush strokes.

Paul focuses on the materiality of the oil paint to provide the structural premise for each painting. True to his background in sculpture, he paints and creates forms in two-dimensional space with the same discipline required of the three-dimensional form. Swirls, drips, and stains form bold chaotic patterns, creating a sense of energy and movement, while thinned-down paint absorbs into the canvas, creating luminous and ethereal colour fields.

With titles such as ‘Sage Earth,’ ‘Menton Procession,’ and ‘Balzi Rossi,’ Paul’s paintings continue to be rooted in place and landscape. With his use of paint also playing a crucial role in conveying emotion, he is able to “capture the elemental struggles of our internal and external landscapes.”

Paul continues to attract international acclaim at solo and group art exhibitions, often working to commission with exacting colours and tones.

Click here to read 'An Interview with Paul Kessling'