Keith Grafton – Q&A

Keith Grafton’s work takes an exploratory view of how environments impact our lives to the extent to which we are no longer aware. Particular subject matters and themes that interest him are :- people, cities, beaches and commodities as in brands. He likes to explore the interplay between emotions, like love, hope and desire, while looking at how fashion, publicity, money and the material world influence the way we live and feel. The intention is to take the viewer on a contemporary journey that is emotionally powerful, and uplifting, but sometimes provocative.

These themes are combined to express the intensity and contrast of passions and emotions, often suppressed or repressed in today’s multi-dimensional modern world. This is achieved through the use of photography, image manipulation, mixed media and poetry. Arranging them into new conceptually layered pieces that explore high contrasts, sharp defining colours and a touch of surrealism.

Grafton’s projects often consist of a series of works, grouped around specific themes using a variety of processes and materials. His current strands of work revolve around: photomontages, photographic-based abstractions and collages. This involves taking his own raw photography through a series of artistic processes, integrating found images and/or the use of mixed media painting/printing in order to create the final artwork. During research and production, new areas of interest arise and lead to Grafton’s next body of work. The artist is always looking at breaking down the boundaries between digital, traditional and contemporary art styles and expressions.

It’s the surrealism and minimalism of our lives that creates space to reflect on what is the purpose of it all. Grafton’s intention is to shift the viewer’s perception of meaning, love and well-being, in the hope of making visible what is overlooked.

Self-taught or art school?

My love affair with photography started with my first Polaroid at the age of 10. Initially self-taught, I later trained in modern photography, image manipulation, and mixed media painting at Central Saint Martins University of the Arts in London, transitioning to a full-time studio practice after more than 30 years working as an IT systems architect for major investment banks in the City.

How would you describe your style?

Although much of my work is photographically based, I see myself more as a mixed media digital artist that creates bold photographic conceptual abstractions with an edgy surrealistic quality that plays with metaphors and symbolism. My artistic aesthetics dance between the classical, the contemporary, and the future, always looking to break the boundaries between traditional and digital art.

Can you tell us about your artistic process?

I’m naturally curious and like to photograph all sorts of things, objects, backgrounds, and textures that call my attention, without having a preconceived idea of how they will be used in my work. Through time I’ve built an extensive collection of images, which I reinterpret, manipulate, reposition or crop depending on the feel and look I want to achieve in each collection. I work in a couple of series of works at the time, using my camera as my colour palette. My artistic process is based on digital mixed media where I combine manipulated photography, photomontage, poetry, and digital painting and drawing. I like to use high contrast patterns, sharp defining colours, and playful elements, and integrate the human figure within everyday objects, text, and urban elements, to create compelling imagery that beckons viewers into the scene with a futuristic outlook. My starting point generally is the texture of a distressed wall or a poem I’ve just written that inspires a whole series of works. A lot of my work comes from a process of unconscious automatism, I trust the ‘feeling’ I get that a particular element, colour or pattern needs to be included. And as the work progresses I enter into a trance state where my subconscious mind interacts with the artwork creation till the completion.

Is narrative important in your work?

As an abstract-conceptual artist, the narrative is very important in my work. I like to investigate how fashion, commercialisation, and technology impact the way we live while exploring how love, hope,and desire determine the way we feel. My intention is to shift perceptions on contemporary issues by creating a space to reflect and make visible what is often overlooked.

Who are your favourite artists and why?

My work is influenced by Kandinsky, Moholy-Nagy and Tàpies, each quite different and at the same time with commonalities that I appreciate. Their styles are atemporal, contemporary, and create a narrative that you keep discovering through time. In Kandinsky and particularly in Moholy-Nagy I like their play with geometric abstractions where lines, circles and shapes interact naturally. With Tàpies, I like the interplay of texture-matter and his use of found objects. In my work, I use what I describe as ‘found images’, backgrounds, wall and surface textures, and images of found objects come together to create geometric abstractions, often bringing metaphors and symbolism into the composition.

Who or what inspires your art?

My work is all about expressing feelings and emotions. Love, hope, desire and relationships are recurring themes in my work. Also, fashion, technology, architecture, and publicity inspire me. All of these industries are in a constant state of flux, always looking for what is next. The future and what is possible stimulates me. Also travelling, other cultures and the little daily experiences that bring you joy and pleasure.

Where’s your studio and what’s it like?

My studio is in West London. I try to keep my digital studio side tidy however as I share my studio with my partner – Maite Baron – the whole studio is quite eclectic, full of things that keep popping up, often found objects, recycled or things found in the street, charity shops or vintage markets. We’re always searching and collecting inspiration for the next artwork series. Sometimes being in the studio feels like being in an urban oasis, others like time travelling. And of course, all walls are full of our artworks, which keep coming and going. Certainly, the studio is full of colour, character and the unexpected, like three mannequins that lay around the space dressed as Marvel heroes!

Do you have any studio rituals?

I like to spend a few minutes exercising in the rebounder, allowing my thoughts to settle and come together, and then I go to the garden for five minutes before making a fresh cup of tea. Sometimes I like to play some music in the background when I create new artwork, others I need silence, but when I switch on my computer I enter into a different zone where time and space completely disappear.

What are you working on currently?

I like to work in two or three series of works at a time, moving from one to the other. Right now I’m exploring the concept of identity shifts, of who we are and who we’re becoming as we interact more and more with AI and other technological advances. Also exploring how we perceive ourselves through time at different stages of our lives.

Where can we buy your art? You can buy my art in Baron Grafton Arthouse website : https://barongraftonarthouse.com/ On Artsy’s gallery: https://www.artsy.net/artist/keith-grafton https://www.artsy.net/baron-grafton-arthouse