Sean Scully

Sean Scully is an Irish-born British painter, printmaker, sculptor and photographer who is known for his large scale paintings comprised of vertical and horizontal lines and shapes which contrast in colour. His work remains primarily abstract and he helped lead the transition from Minimalism to Emotional abstraction in painting after he moved to New York in his thirties. He broke out of his minimalistic style in 1981 where he reintroduced color and space, and the freehand drawing of stripes and visible brushstrokes, rather than the hard lines of tape, which remain a distinctive feature of his work today. 

I was inspired by Sean Scully’s work because of the way that he uses colour, tone and hue to convey emotion in his work. He places contrasting and sometimes clashing colours next to eachother which I think makes for an interesting and bold piece for the viewer. This allows them to seek a deeper interpretation of his paintings as the colours and shapes remain a symbol of emotion and spirituality. 

Paula Rego

Paula Rego is a Portuguese-British artist who is well known for her paintings that often reflect feminism which are coloured by folk-themes from her native Portugal. Her work leans towards abstraction however with her reference to folklore a strong narrative element remains in place. She rebels against the Slade school of art taught painting style which focused a lot on the anatomical structure of the body and uses a more freer style of painting combining strong clear drawing with depictions of equally strong women in sometimes disturbing situations. 

I really enjoy Rego’s work as I feel that she is able to capture emotion and atmosphere really well within her pieces and her folklore narrative influence helps to bring the paintings to life.