Corrina Rothwell Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

• 
• 
• 
• 

  Back to profiles Invite to apply

Nottingham-based artist creating expressive, invigorating and enigmatic abstract figurative paintings.

Painting is something I love in and of itself rather than as a vehicle to take me somewhere. It’s taken me a while to settle into this notion. My practice up until the time I started painting 8 years ago was idea-led and it’s taken a lot of wrong turns and blind alleys to finally come to the realisation that, with painting, it's the use of the medium itself that propels the work.

Colour is a major driver and I’m drawn to strong, vibrant and contrasting palettes. The drawn line compels me and it’s this that brings the figurative dimension into what is largely abstract work. Pure abstraction feels incomplete - a crucial element for me is what previously I would have called narrative but lately I’ve come to think of as presence. Human presence, or human-related objects which suggest the presence (or absence) of humans.

What I’m seeking when I paint is the frisson of a move or mark that feels somehow daring, a clash of colours that gives me a thrill. I work in surges, sometimes a burst of energy sending large painterly marks or a frenzy of scribbling across the canvas, sometimes slowing down and zooming into small areas, getting lost in the detail there. My intent always is to sink into the sensory experience of painting, shutting out the mental chatter of whys and wherefores and allowing instinct to lead the way.