Welcome Lindsay. Please tell us who you are, what do you do and why you do it?
My name is Lindsay Pickett and I am a professional fine artist by trade and a recent MA Fine Art graduate from City and Guilds of London Art School.
I make art because it gives me a sense of being true to myself. My more recent work gives a narrative to my own experience of social isolation.
Do you have any shows/open studios, art festivals/art teaching/ demos, residencies, awards etc coming up in the next six months?
As well as being an artist and focussing on my practice when I can, I also teach in various adult education colleges. I teach various part time courses in painting and drawing. Currently I have a show up in Todmorden near Leeds, which finishes on 31st January.
I am delighted to be joining Skylark Galleries, to have my work on show in central London. I am always on the lookout for online and physical art opportunities.
What has been a seminal experience for you?
I would say that since doing an MA, my work has drastically changed from cities to animal hybrids. This allowed me to create much more personal works that connect more with both historical and contemporary fine artists.
What memorable responses have you had to your work?
Your work is f***ing amazing!
Is the artistic life lonely? What do you do to counteract it?
Yes. It can be. But loneliness has always been with me. I used to say to myself “I am so lonely”, but now I now say to myself “I am at peace with myself” to counteract this. I paint, meditate, see friends if at all possible or go for walks with my wife.
What research to you do?
I look for art shows online, just to stay in the loop in the art world. I look for shows relevant to my own practice. I also sometimes look up artists and art curators on Instagram, who’s work might connect with my own.
What is your dream project?
To be able to show with some of my recent MA fellow graduates, but I know that this is far easier said than done. I would also like to get experience is doing a residency. I have never actually done one. Just to work and collaborate with other artists more.
Please share the stories behind the two artworks you have selected to show here.
Fish out of Water, oil on linen 51 x 77 cm
In this work I am trying to achieve a sense of dark drama. I want to give a sense of what it means to be different or something that does not conform or fit in. The ‘other', the hybrid deer-shark is the misfit here; it is being chased and taunted by two animals that are considered 'normal’. The fact that it is a deer-shark hybrid renders it useless as a top predator as it would be in the sea. I am trying to show how a hybrid or the thing that does not fit in often feels useless and unloved. The shark is a metaphor of being the ‘fish out of water’ so to speak.
Mockery, oil on linen 61 x 72 cm
In this work I am showing what mockery is all about. The one being mocked here is the hybrid lion and tiger on the right of the composition. It is being chased and mocked by the tiger on the left. The other tiger in the far-left hand side of the composition is not only watching the spectacle but has egged on the tiger that’s chasing the hybrid in the first place. This scene is like a metaphor of a school playground where the ‘head bully’ coaxes on its minions to bully those that do not fit in or do not conform to what it is classed as ‘normal.’ Those that are different in some way or are unfamiliar to what we regard as socially acceptable get mocked and chased for being different, especially in such ruthless places as a school playground.
Lindsay PIckett’s work is outstanding. I have had the pleasure of knowing Lindsay from meeting him a few years ago at Space Studios in Whitechapel through the artist Christopher Owin Lane.
Lindsay brings a fresh surrealism to the world with his interpretations of nature, landscape, animals and society. He is a big lover of hieronymus bosch and you can see that feeling if the disturbing change of animal and environment. There is a lot of feeling, mystery and isolation in his art. His work had a universal quality that moves you and makes you address the works and yourself.
Lindsay is also a brilliant landscape artist through his wonderful technique and drawing where you discover the unexpected. In addition he creates aircraft models that are incredibly detailed.
Lindsay is also a great tutor but more importantly humble, dedicated soulful artist who is original in thought, life and process.
Jeremy Wallace
May 25, 2022
Lindsay PIckett’s work is outstanding. I have had the pleasure of knowing Lindsay from meeting him a few years ago at Space Studios in Whitechapel through the artist Christopher Owin Lane.
Lindsay brings a fresh surrealism to the world with his interpretations of nature, landscape, animals and society. He is a big lover of hieronymus bosch and you can see that feeling if the disturbing change of animal and environment. There is a lot of feeling, mystery and isolation in his art. His work had a universal quality that moves you and makes you address the works and yourself.
Lindsay is also a brilliant landscape artist through his wonderful technique and drawing where you discover the unexpected. In addition he creates aircraft models that are incredibly detailed.
Lindsay is also a great tutor but more importantly humble, dedicated soulful artist who is original in thought, life and process.