Simon Hennessey
b. 1973, Birmingham, UK.

"We all have our life journeys and everyone walks a different path. Life itself is never straight forward, disruptions happen and the decisions and paths which we take all have consequences, whether through our conscience decision making or via the force of Mother Nature intervening our journey. My brush strokes are symbolic of our actions and the winding paths we take. Each brush stroke or mark I choose to include, be it intentional or through chance, has an implication on the composition of the painting, it changes the paintings course and direction - what was previously the clarity of realism becomes a disrupted semi - abstraction of reality.

The variations in surface textures and mark making that is visually apparent in my paintings, such as the flatness and unified structure of the representational to the organic and the heavily impasto brush strokes or the splattering of paint, are usually considered as conflicting when combined together. However, through this juxtaposition I'm creating a harmonious balance to produce something that’s aesthetical and questions the boundaries of realism and where abstraction begins.

On first view my paintings may be considered as a photographic representation of reality, but in truth my artwork transcends into its own abstraction of reality. I do not adhere to a true mimetic depiction of a photograph, I use the camera only as a source to assist me with gathering information which is then combined with my own artistic input and vision. My process consists of adding or removing detail, altering depth, adding textures, form and colour values and their relationship within the painting, this allows me to create an illusion that blurs the boundaries between what is real and what is made up and therefore presents the viewer with a simulation of reality."