Paul Bowring

Born in Bristol in 1969, Paul graduated from Derby University in 1998 with a BA(hons) in Fine Art. He now lives and works in Nottingham and is a member of the Thingland studio group in St Anns.

Paul mainly works with acrylic paints on canvas and prefers to work directly onto the canvas with a palette knife rather than pre-planning a painting. He works with the figurative elements and structures that emerge as the paint is applied and lets the image evolve. Sometimes a strong composition emerges quickly, at other times a painting goes through several transformations before a pleasing result is achieved.

Paul draws upon the darker reaches of his subconscious for his inspiration, which he regularly feeds with strange, esoteric and fantastical literature, extreme and challenging music and dark, thought-provoking films. This heady mixture helps imbue his work is with a sense of mystery, an aura of otherworldliness and the essence of Gothic Romanticism. Figures can be found poised in archways, caught between light and dark, hesitating or caught in a moment of reverie, sometimes pursued by the unknown and at other times facing it with resolve. It's hard to tell whether these figures are real or if this is just some fevered dream. If there seems to be an underlying narrative in his artwork then it is never fully revealed, the viewer has to create their own interpretation of the events that seem to be unfolding.

Matthew Vickerstaff, Charlotte Thomson and Paul Bowring are the 3 organisers of Danse Macabre.