Vince Tutton

Vince studied at Cardiff, Newport and Leeds College of Art & Design as well as the Academia di Belle Arti in Florence. He has exhibited widely in London, with solo shows at the Smiths Gallery, The Stark Gallery and McKinsey’s, across the UK and the USA. He has received two Welsh Arts painting awards, three Italian government scholarships and was a Fulbright scholar in Florida, USA.

'I began my career drawing the human figure, in particular the coal miners of the Rhondda valleys, South Wales, where I was raised. As the coal mines disappeared the landscape of the valleys became my main subject matter. They seemed to act as a metaphor for my life through which I could articulate my experiences, relationships and memories. This close association with the landscape was to remain the same over the years wherever my family and I were to live and it still forms the basis for my present work.

'Whatever format my work has taken over the years, ever since the winter in Italy during 1969/70 I have always kept a book, the contents of which (written and visual) complemented the drawings, paintings and collages I produced. Eventually, the use of writing was to dominate and by the mid 90’s, after producing several bodies of works relating to our experiences at the farmhouse Corbino and Casole d’Elsa, the “Story Book/Chapter” series was to emerge.

'Each of these works began as a single page where I record day to day life and my emotional responses to experiences. Gradually the writings are ready to be taken a stage further and I overlay the dialogue with layers of other media – paint, charcoal, pastel and pencil. More writing may be added and the process continues until a rich and tactile texture is created with poignant textual messages highlighted or hidden by scratching/rubbing the surfaces at various stages/layers of their development. On closer examination, both the writing and the fold of the page are visible, evidence of their journalistic and note book beginnings.

'I work in series, the length of which is determined by the experience that they relate to. Each series is called a ‘chapter’ and each work is a ‘page’ of that chapter. At times some of the pages are grouped together to form ‘paragraphs’. Inevitably different experiences produce changes of mood within each chapter and such changes are reflected not only in the intensity of the colour used, but also in the subtle variations and textures to be found within each page.'

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