Gurminder Sikand
1960 - 2021
Gurminder was an Indian born British artist whose work was characterised by images of strong women. This was true of her many self-portraits, her paintings influenced by Indian folk art, her watercolours of women hugging trees (inspired by the Chipko anti-deforestation movement).
Gurminder had exhibited in New York, London and several regional galleries in England.
Since her untimely death at the age of 61 in late 2021, the Tate Gallery has shown interest in her work and has selected some paintings and drawings for a touring show later this year (2023).
I was honoured and priviledged to be commisioned by her husband, the poet Tim Youngs, to photograph a large part of her extensive artistic output, for reproduction in a future publication and as an archive for research.
Stage Set, 2018-2021
Ross Martin
1948 - 2018
Ross was an artist, craftsman and environmentalist. Born in Brighton, he studied for a DipAD in Woven Textiles at Farnham College in Surrey, going on to the Royal College of Art where some of his final show was chosen as best in his year, 1975, and photographed for the Ideal Home exhibition. That same year he moved to Nottingham where he remained for the rest of his life, teaching at South Notts College and developing his painting practice - going on to do an MA in Painting at Nottingham Trent Polytechnic.
Ross’ mainly still-life paintings are spare, often semi-abstract ranging between bright and strong and subtle, delicate colouration. He exhibited widely and has work is in several public and private collections.
Ross was also an inveterate campaigner as well as a witty letter writer to national and local newspapers in support of his causes. Another passion was gardening which is witnessed by the beautiful rear garden of the house in West Bridgford where his partner still lives. His sudden death in 2018 came as shock to all who knew him.
A retrospective exhibition is planned for May 2023 at University of Nottingham’s Angear Gallery, together with the publication of a monograph by Shoestring Press, for which I was commissioned to photograph Ross’ work.
Mik Godley
b.1959
Mik is a painter and draughtsman par-excellence. Born in Pontefract to an English dentist father and a German mother, he studied Fine Art at Leeds Art College, then in 1989 moved to Nottingham, subsequently gaining an MA in Art Practice from Nottingham Trent University. For some years he has taught art part-time at Chesterfield College to support his art practice and pay rent on his studio which is situated in the prestigious Primary Studios, of which he is a founder member.
Mik’s earlier style was roccoco-esque with a surreal edge, but in 2002 he embarked on a project which marked a distinct shift in style. Researching his German/Silesian (now part of Poland) heritage , he was an early adopter of the internet as a source of images, which were in many cases low resolution, quickly fragmenting into pixels as they were enlarged. But Mik soon turned this apparent shortcoming to artistic advantage by adopting a stylised way of painting; using flat, square brushes to make marks that emulate the pixels of his source images.
Mik Godley has exhibited in London, Edinburgh, Zagreb and most recently a solo show in 2022 at the University of Leicester’s Attenborough Arts Centre.
I have been documenting Mik Godley’s work for the last twenty years, and own several of his works.
Paul Matosic
b. 1955
Paul Matosic’s work is largely 3D. Working with found and discarded materials; be it off-cuts of wood, computer components or packaging, he brilliantly re-imagines the material to create sculptural objects which have real presence and an aesthetic which often suggests alien cultures, whether earthly or other-worldly.
Recent work has developed from his ongoing interest in history and archaeology, questioning the provenance of ancient objects in a playful manner.
His use of found materials and commentary about the state of the world suggests that he has an activist tendency although he would say that art comes first “ art without message is mere decoration message without art is a placard”
He has exhibited in numerous group and solo shows both nationally and internationally
A new body of work titled The Ancient City of Phibonak was shown at the Angear Gallery, Nottingham in 2022 which Paul commissioned me to photograph.
More of Paul Matosic’s work can be seen at: www.matosic.net
A wall from the Angear Gallery show
Jack Findlater
b 1949
