Kristan Baggaley

The dominance of the landscape and the power of changing weather patterns acts as an omnipresent stage set for Baggaley. He hints towards marks of human intervention with the occasional presence of footpaths, with single file tracks illuminated by transient bands of sunlight elevating the work with an almost ritualistic status with spiritual significance. The viewer is thus lead from the foreground of dense gorse, heather and bare rock, towards the compelling ambiguity of the horizon. Each well-trodden path is a record of time, revealing the natural meandering routes established by those who have traversed the landscape before us, carving through the surface like a persistent stream and suggesting a deeply embedded relationship with the environment.

Baggaley’s paintings are emotional reactions to the ever changing seasonal patterns, resulting in romantic portrayals of his experiences which are indeed both psychological explorations as much as they are physical journeys. His method of working is very physical and full of movement, building up layer upon layer of impasto oil, reminiscent of the weather-beaten landscapes that he seeks to harness. Baggaley draws parallels between the shifting impermanence of the natural world and the fleeting, yet emotively powerful, ephemerality of sensory perception.

Baggaley now exhibits across the UK and is part of numerous private, public and corporate collections including Sheffield University, Sheffield Hospital Trust and the Royal Bank of Scotland. He also holds three awards, including first prize for the Bernard Shaw Prize for Painting, Prize Winner of the Young Contemporaries award, Birmingham, and the Stowells Trophy as a selected exhibitor at the Royal College of Art.