Gavin Dobson Fine Art

Picture this: close your eyes and imagine him. What appears?
For me, nothing. No image, no form. I have aphantasia, an inability to visualise in my mind’s eye. I cannot summon the ideal man, a fantasy, or even a memory as a picture. Sometimes, I think did I see him? But then, he's gone. And yet, I can describe him. I can paint him, and show him on the canvas.

Picturing Him centres on my own temptations, experiences, and how these are translated through my painting. Rather than being predetermined, each composition is built through a mix of external references, a process of layering, and discovered amongst gestural mark making intuitively with paint. I care little about visual truths. Rather, I want to capture intimacy, and the joys, fears and frustrations that it can bring. Every smear or smudge is a built-up reaction to how I feel, and like life, these stains don't always need to be erased but rather accepted and can be part of an ongoing journey.

27th August - 31st August - 11am till 5pm