Gayle
Payne

I am a Fine Art painter working in the medium of Oil. Themes in my work are all to do with people, the body and the experience through senses.The style is abstract expressionism and shows varying degrees of abstraction and the figure. 

My process often starts through automatism, this was a technique invented by the surrealists who wanted to tap into the unconscious mind and dream like states. It was defined by a Court as ‘the state of a person who though capable of action, is not conscious of what he is doing.’ I start paintings intuitively and with gestural mark making and figures can usually be seen. Form develops through this process.

I paint about forming, reforming, de-constructing, destroying, building, perception, truth, the senses and unseen realities. I paint about this state of flux and my work sits uncomfortably between representation and abstraction.

What defines my work as a whole is sense of movement and formlessness. Gestural mark making and abstraction sit with a sense of the figure. I work in oil paint and it takes a long time to dry in layers, this becomes a part of my process, I spend time looking at the work, whilst not constraining it with ideas, so I can paint with a sense of moment in the performance. The work is seen and felt, but not worked out. 

To see and experience my art I feel gives a scene of discovery. There often seems to be a sense of a narrative because of the presence of people but the mood is reflective and searching. You may discover your own meaning within it. Because I paint through this kind of automatism and intuitive state, I often see the painting at the end as a viewer not the painter. I wonder what the painting shows to me. 

I do work on commissions for clients but you would need to understand the process and have no preconceived ideas of how it should look. This is done through a contractual agreement.