Welcome to the painting studio of Alexis Butterfield
I am a painter, a lover of old places and a designer of new places.
My paintings, drawings and collages are the result of twin fascinations - in what makes sense of place and how it is assembled, and in the equally 'serious play' of making art.
My architectural background and a lifelong love of architectural history underpins each piece. Places can be sacred or profane, lauded monuments or abandoned. Years of working with complex places helps me to see the layers, history, spaces and relationships beyond the surface. This shows through in the way I choose and frame my subjects and then how I construct them.
Shifts and transitions in my work, between figurative and abstract, graphic and painterly, architectural fidelity and dramatic simplification, are perennial characteristics in my work. Almost all of it is mixed media, combining paint, ink, printmaking techniques and collage. With these I build surfaces in stages: first establishing structure with strong lines and blocks of tone, then gradually adding translucent washes, veils of colour, and more gestural marks. Wiping back through layers allows earlier decisions and iterations to show through. What we take away is as important as what we add.
In my studio the walls, tables and plan drawers are full of drawings, photographs, papers and scraps that I use as starting points. These references help me think in abstract ways - dismantling, rethinking and reassembling places into lines, shapes, textures and layers. Paintings will often have a number of iterations as I seek to find and balance diverse elements.
I look forward to you enjoying and exploring this collection of work. For commissions, to discuss my work, or any other enquiries my email is alexisbutterfieldart@gmail.com
