It’s a Dog’s Life…

OCA Level 3 painting student, James Loy, is exhibiting at the Galleon Grill in Blackpool from the 4 – 30 September. The gallery is filled with paintings on canvas of dogs, made in a painterly and expressionistic style as observed in different environments on his travels beginning in Blackpool and ending in Thailand.
James’s thoughts began with painting ‘Hugo’ the family cavoodle. As his attachment to Hugo grew, he moved from painting scenes at home and in the park to ‘imaginary situations’ of Hugo visiting places.
James recently travelled to Thailand to paint and noticed the commonplace stray dogs and as a comparison, dogs in the lap of luxury. Thinking about issues of the differences in human societies, his observations drew him to the conclusion; “we are all living a dog’s life be it, rich or poor.” Using this, James creates a social commentary using Hugo as his subject. His paintings are humorous, absurd and lively as he attempts to make the shift from representation to abstraction.
“I am a social documentary painter, interested in making work through representational to abstract and conceptual methods. When looking at an artists’ work I search for the ‘in between, real and imaginary’, which makes me feel like I am being mildly hypnotized by the un-reality of it all. Am I the ‘rabbit’ caught in the flashlight? It has been said that I sometimes ‘put a lot into my work and that they become ‘too busy’ – well, maybe. Maybe I need to put less on more canvases.”
Check out James’ blog and Instagram to see more of his work.

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