JOHN LANCASHIRE
Raised in Australia, he started art school back in the 1980’s, fresh and focused with the only future intention of being practicing artist. This didn’t last long as Sydney’s inner-city lifestyle was distracting and after leaving two art schools he had essentially flushed serious artmaking away. John ended up in various odd jobs leading to hairdressing which has remained a mainstay. Today with the rise of interest in his artworks, this may change too. After the birth of his son, John, his partner Deb reconsidered living in Sydney and relocated to Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, with family nearby, the move was a new and good start.
Looking at an artwork, a viewer can find themselves less occupied by theory and more profoundly placed into experiences of expression evidently layered into a canvas. The viewer resides temporarily alongside the artist in grasp of content and curiosity. Illuminous emotion, sharp tacks and generous give-away can front forward from the artist behind the brush. Lancashire’s painting has been a coming aware time for him too. His firmly growing body of work testimony to inner grit and the decision to change it up. There are powerful influences that have clued him, not least; Arthur Boyd, Matisse, Picasso, and further on, George Condo and Lisa Yuskavage. The telling association with these influences is his own disposition toward a similar sense of rebellious exploration - the unkept motivation and a compelled focus to express with resolve, to work the issues of paint, structure and line so to quench ones’ own inner impulse.