Alice Neave

Alice Neave works from her studio in South West London creating bold explorations into movement, colour and texture.

Working in oil, Neave considers each of her abstract canvases as portraiture, by using classically constructed compositions as if painting figures. Through this technique the paint itself has become the main protagonist of her work.

These 'portraits of paint' give a life to Neave's medium as the subject; they have weight and physicality, form and shape built up with texture and viscosity to examine the relationship between the background and foreground. Painting instinctively, the works are built up with layers, marks and patterns upon colour blocked backgrounds.

Abstracted images captured from photography act as a catalyst of inspiration for Neave, and indeed each work hints at elements of flora, fauna and still life. However, for the artist it is the paint itself that remains as the constant muse, taking superior precedence in her artistic process.

Image: When it's wet with rain, 2013, oil on canvas, 100 x 80 cm