Occasionally I make collagey mixed-media works for fun. A way to explore interesting compositions and distortions outside of real world restrictions of perspective and proportion.
They also frequently allow a free exploration of a sort of grotesque as a result of the jarring combination of different scaled elements.
I have added some of these collages to my eBay shop: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394355872772
The last (for now?…) studies influenced by songs from the Manic Street Preachers album “Everything Must Go” have been added to the gallery page: https://mattwells.art.blog/narrative-painting/portfolio/
Below are a few of them.
As part of my practice I sometimes make landscape studies. The reasons vary from documenting the passage through time and space (in my walking drawings), sourcing potential locations and elements for inclusion as setting for later narrative works, to the enjoyment of applying paint to mimic colour combinations, texture and interesting lighting effects.
I have added a gallery here and otherwise stated all works are available. Enquiries can be made to matthewgwells@outlook.com
The first series added consists of 25 studies of the Moray coastline painted in acrylic on card, around A5 size.
Around 2018 I embarked on a project producing drawings and paintings illustrating scenes inspired by Patrick Suskind’s novel “Perfume, the story of a murderer”.
The novel centres around an orphan named Grenouille who has a highly developed olfactory sense, despite possessing no odour of his own. His search for containing fragrance results in depraved activities culminating in mass murder.
All paintings are available unless otherwise stated, email: matthewgwells@outlook.com
Watercolour and ink on canvas, each £60
The largest painting (below) was damaged and subsequently destroyed, however it is available in digital form as an NFT, both static, in various stages of disintegration or as an animated gif. Available from Opensea.io
Painted during my MA studies at Gray’s, Here is a series of Paintings combining elements from historical paintings, particularly still life and genre scenes such as Dutch “Merry Company” paintings, with imaginary elements and found images of contemporary political figures and animals. The intention or meaning of the resulting image is reliant on the links made by the viewer between the various symbolic elements, so that I have composed and drafted the image but the viewer writes the story using the clues to build the narrative.
Each is created using acrylic, ink and varnish on paper collaged onto canvas.
Each painting is available to purchase, email me matthewgwells@outlook.com with expressions of interest.
In 2018 I produced a series of drawings and paintings inspired by Patrick Suskind’s famous novel “Perfume”, centering around its protagonist Jean-Baptiste Grenouille; an orphan with a highly developed olfactory sense, who emits no odour of his own.
The largest painting in the series was a 100 x 150cm canvas of Grenouille as a hermit. This finest of pointing was damaged and subsequently destroyed, so all that remains of the IMAGE is a photograph.
The 1/1 NFT of this photograph is available to own in the absence of the physical object.
The hermit is accompanied by an animated gif showing digital destruction of an image and its reappearance, with states of disintegration chosen as images in their own right.
Available to buy on Opensea
Recently unearthed whilst emptying out my studio, here’s “Burning of the Clavie, Burghead” 2007Oil on canvas, 70 x 50cm
Depicting the traditional Burghead New Years ceremony of “Burning the Clavie” in which a barrel loaded with wooden stakes and tar is set a light and paraded through the village on the 11th January, before being placed atop a local hill where more tar is thrown on, causing fireballs to shoot into the sky. The stakes from the Clavie are said to bring luck for the year ahead.
This painting is signed “WELLS 2007” on the reverse, and was displayed in the 2007 Moray Arts Club exhibition, where it received a commendation.
This painting currently available on eBay HERE
New additions to the portfolio page, continuing my project of creating illustrations inspired by the songs from Manic Street Preachers seminal album “Everything Must Go”.
I’ve set up a new portfolio page: https://mattwells.art.blog/portfolio/
The first project I’m uploading is a set of illustrations inspired by the songs on Manic Street Preachers landmark fourth album, “Everything Must Go”.
As a teenager the Welsh band Manic Street Preachers were highly influential on my personal development. As with many teens I was enamoured by their complete package; appearance, musical sound, lyrics, album artwork and design… This was a time when one would physically hold the CD booklet whilst listening to the songs, absorbing the photographs, quotes and additional text, when music was not just filling silence in the background but an entire physical experience.
The works in my “Everything Must Go” series have been initiated in the year of the album’s 25th anniversary, and comprises of a suite of illustrations inspired by the lyrics of each song.
Below are selection of sketchbook images which informed the watercolour illustrations in the project.
Matt Wells Art 