Painting

David Storey is a renowned British figurative painter whose emotionally charged paintings explore the notion of memory.

After graduating from Hornsey College of Art, David initially worked as a record sleeve artist, but for the last 25 years he has focused entirely on painting, developing a way of working that continues to evolve. 

He writes:

“My paintings offer ‘glimpsed’ or half-remembered figures and faces – re-imagined people standing on the edge of living memory, recovered from a personal archive of the forgotten.

Ideas emerge from material that comes to hand, an old photograph for example might chime or resonate. I then embark on a quest to unlock the essence of the material in a way that is somehow extra-visual. This journey of development and discovery can take anything from 5 days to 5 years until a kind of alchemy takes place and things seem to harmonise of their own accord in a way that can be very rewarding.

I like to paint in an expressionistic way using rags and sponges because the physical marks and textures are a fundamental element of what I’m trying to achieve.

The challenge for me though is to retain an economy of execution – an effortless effort.”