J.K. Brown

As a child John spent huge amounts of time using his imagination for entertainment. Inanimate objects took on a life of their own for his amusement; He created “other” places with his drawings.

He initially specialised in Illustration and developed a love of life drawing, He was influenced by hyper-realist artists such as Carravagio, Vermeer and Rembrant and his work took on quite a formal style.

John then went on to study Fine Art Painting at Cheltenham College and chose a course that was orientated towards traditional, representational art. Whilst in Cheltenham his work made a transition as he became aware of other movements in art. Not content with making purely literal pieces he painted in a more expressive, exploratory style. This is where John became aware of “outsider art” and began using waste materials in his work.

John went on to study Sculpture at the West Wales School of the Arts, where he learned Iron/Bronze Casting, Steel construction and Woodcarving.

During this time his interest in found objects continued to develop with Welding found steel objects/materials becoming the main focus of John’s work. The use of man–made materials in the work of artists such as Picasso, Tony Cragg, Bill Woodrow and Joseph Beuys plays a huge part in inspiring and informing his creations.

As John is emerging professionally it is clear to him that his transitional and metamorphic route here has been crucial in shaping both him as an artist and the individual vision in his work.