Wayne Forrester was born in London, England in 1980.  He is self taught artist, poet and writer who draws inspiration from Scottish artists Jack Vettriano, Iain Faulkner, the American artist Todd White and Brighton based artist, Sam Toft.

 

He also takes inspiration for his writing from British historic fiction writer Hilary Mantel, author of such works as Wolf Hall, Bring Up The Bodies, and The Mirror and the Light, the Indian novelist and poet Vikram Seth, writer of An Equal Music and A Suitable Boy as well as the Canadian novelist and poet Margaret Atwood whose worldwide recognition includes novels such as The Handmaid's Tale, The Testament and The Heart Goes Last. Wayne's inspiration for writing also comes from the Nigerian playwright, novelist and poet Wole Soyinka, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature and writer of works which include, Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth, and Russian born American author and philosopher, Alice O'Connor better know by her pen name, Ayn Rand whose iconic works include her best-selling 1957 published novel, Atlas Shrugged.

His oeuvre demonstrates a contemporary interpretation of colours, and he is known for his oil paintings of abstracts, portraits and expressionist figures, focusing on exquisite strengths and complexities through bold and vibrant colours, incorporating space, and texture to convey human emotions. His unique painting skills, eye for capturing an expression that portrays an intimate story, and material experimentation are combined together to create a dynamic harmony between emotion and design. Wayne  explores the boundaries of contemporary expressionism in each piece he creates. 

Wayne currently lives in Cambridgeshire and works between Cambridge, London and Brighton. His work demonstrates the challenges and triumphs of colour compositions and exploration as a result of a non-traditional process aimed at Expressionism. He strips down the process and its essentials, following a simplistic method that follows an organic process that takes shape as each piece is created.

 

“For me vibrant colours and various blends expressed through Expressionism portraits and abstracts give life to a higher level of motivation that evokes something real that everyone can connect with in order to find balance. The arrangement of colours in a space from the background to each brush stroke on the canvas tells a story on its own. Some of these are my stories born out of pain and hurt and suffering both as a young man and as an adult. At the same time, these are stories of happiness and high emotions as I try connect with something beyond myself. I sometimes find myself in a compositional conundrum of how far I can go towards the edge of doubtfulness before I feel confident that a piece is complete. I often feel that something is missing, and perhaps that the viewer may find what it is and then the piece will come to life for their own interpretation and be complete. Perhaps its a feeling derived from blends or a single colour. The colours tell me what to do. It is somewhat of a feeling. Something unexplained, but in the moment you understand and it is accepted. The colours dictate when to start, what to do and when to step away from a piece so it may marinate. My intention is that these pieces will explore the beauty in human emotion for impluses, discipline and control around darkness and light - what brings people out of it and towards it. When I look at the work I create, I measure their value simply on how I imagine they will make people feel, how they communicate the fragility of our nature and feelings towards love and to receive love and the inevitability of our contentment of a life shared or a life spent.”

 

– Wayne Forrester, 2022