Gustavius Payne was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales in 1969, Gustavius gained a First Class Honours in 1996 from Cheltenham College.
The combination of passion and ideas pouring from his work is striking and powerful. It is clear in the bold colours he uses, the way he carves and works the paint and the way he weaves and plaits fierce images with historical and contemporary allusions. His people and animals reveal or betray their emotions and their characters, and he simultaneously offers a critique of our Society. Sometimes angry and disappointed, sometimes wry and satirical, he is always powered by compassion and sincerity.
Gus makes clear the need for Art, and painting in particular.
"My work is generally concerned with the human predicament, using the notion of a collective unconscious; a rhythm seen throughout human cultures via religion and mythology, referring to the psychologist assertion that myths, fairytales, folk-lore and religion all originate in a place deep within the unconscious, allowing human beings to make sense of the world where, at the time of conception, there is no clear logic or empirical evidence.
I often use archetypes and established signifiers as a starting point, allowing the work to develop on its own terms. (Though I may also begin a painting or a drawing as a series of marks, with no definite planned outcome). The purpose is to create a composition that "feels" right, together with the restraint and acknowledgement that "feelings" can often be misguided."
Gustavius Payne
Gustavius has had regular exhibitions with us and will return again in November 2022.