Biography

Aitch is a mixed-media artist, primarily specialising in the human figure, however, in recent months they have begun to branch out into landscapes, architecture, and non-representational abstract art. 

Aitch is a traveler, suffering from Wanderlust, and has so far visited 15 countires - lived in South Korea for almost 3 years, spent 3 months solo backpacking around South East Asia, and lived for a month at an Aritst's Residency in Spain. They intend to visit America again soon.

Aitch studied at Brighton University in Art & Design PGCE (key stages 3- 4), however after being diagnosed with autism and ADHD, they sadly had to leave teaching and went on the study at the University of Strathclyde gaining an Msc in Information and Library Studies.  

They currently work at a university, in digital accessibility, specialising in nuerological and cognitive accessibility, visual design accessibility, and accessibility for new and innovative technologies.

Aitch is now over 40, is Non-Binary transmasc, asexual, and pan-demi-romantic. They are one of the scary lefties, feminists, and social justice warriors the tories complain about.

​Aitch occasionally fosters cats, and is currently working on making their home about as eccentric as they are.

Artist’s Statement

My love and enthusiasm for visual art started early; I grew up with a visually creative family who all helped nurture my love and enthusiasm, allowing it to grow and flourish. This resulted in many things being adorned with my doodles and paintings - including, at the age of eleven, murals on my bedroom ceiling and the back of my bedroom door. I won a school art contest at the age of ten and simply never looked back, studying art at every opportunity, everything from formal education, to weekend classes and tips or skills passed on from fellow artists I met or worked with.

I love to depict the human body in all its configurations and colours. Real people, alive and in front of me, or characters in books, I like to watch them springing into life under my pen. As a result I used to regularly take part in Life Drawing sessions - now that I can’t do that I will take a sketchbook to well populated areas to sketch the people around me, studying features, bodies, and movement.

I have a love for the fantastic. I am heavily influenced by the films I enjoyed as a child, such as The Dark Crystal, Legend, and Labyrinth; their dark, surreal yet hopeful imagery created a lasting impression that still resonates in my more personal works. Many of the books I read, such as Songs of Earth and Power, Arthurian legends, and the culturally rich pre-Christian history of Great Britain inspired a life-long interest in myth and magic, both traditional and contemporary.

A lot of my work either centres around the mundane-become-fantasy, features fantastical elements, or is outright fantasy illustration. Fantasy, to me, is about imagining ourselves as better. Fantasy takes on the trials, horrors, triumphs and wonder of our mundane reality, explores what they can mean for us, how we can better ourselves, or how things could go wrong, using allegories, metaphors and symbolism and I like to use this same exploration in my own work.

I work in mixed media. I enjoy working in chiaroscuro, acrylics, gouache, collage, hand made papers, and found objects. On occasion, I even incorporate sewing directly into my work. In addition, I work with digital art programs like SAI Painter, Corel Painter, and Procreate to create digital paintings and drawings.

Visually, I am heavily influenced by such artists as Steve Skroce, whose use of solid blacks in his narrative and sequential work has affected my own use of shadows and light, Yoshitaka Amano’s wonderfully fantastical illustration, and David Mack and Klimt, both of whose use of patterns and mixed media within their work inspired my own experimentations with the same. Alongside their, and other artists, influences are countless hobbyist artists I know personally or simply through their art in the online community, where we collaborate and challenge one another to greater heights.

I spent some time living overseas, in South Korea, and my time living there and visiting Japan, and a few countries in South East Asia, have had a profound impact on my inspiration. You may see this show up in some of my work from time to time.

I have been working to expand my skills recently, exploring contemporary post-impressionism, abstraction, and learning to sketch and paint the landscape and cityscape around me. Moving away from the human form, and allowing myself to loosen up is an ongoing goal of mine and I’m enjoying the exploration! 

Recently, I have also been exploring 3D craft; air dry clay, polymer clay, resin, weaving, and even decorating wooden objects. A lot of this is turning into jewellery, and I’m building quite the collection!