My practice ranges from painting to woodwork and includes editioned work (multiples) in a range of media from embroidery to chocolate. The main body of my work is centered upon abstract garden-scape painting and recently has grown to include depictions of the lesser told tales of female figures from mythology and history.
My paintings are built from layers of hypnotic pattern and collage; using a framework of wooden installation, they make reference to architecture and create a rudimentary habitat for both the image and the viewer. These works present a dialogue between abstraction and naturalism, inducing in the viewer a sense of wonder. Dealing with beauty, love and qualities of masculinity and femininity, I take inspiration from Gothic aesthetic and ethos. My paintings draw on the natural and constructed landscapes around me and on existing narratives – from Greek myths such as that of Chloris and Zephyr, to literature by Goethe and D. H. Lawrence. I seek to join the philosophies on life and love found in these tales with an understanding of nature – the details of the petals of flowers as important as what the colour of them might signify. My work has a pop decorative aesthetic but can be read at a number of emotional and intellectual levels – the narrative at play is not always immediately apparent, but feelings of wonder, sadness, loss and love are.
Andy Slater (born Scotland, 1979) lives and works in Newcastle and Edinburgh, UK, maintaining a studio practice as a painter. Since May 2008 he has been in residence at PointB in New York, following on from research and production residencies at The Banff Centre, Canada (2007), on board the MS. Stubnitz (2006) and in San Martino de Scale, Sicily (2002). He has worked in a technical and artistic capacity for venues such as BALTIC and Eyebeam, and on projects including the Star and Shadow Cinema (Newcastle) Platform North East (UK), Star Board Home (Newcastle), and The Embassy (Edinburgh). In 2003 Slater worked at the Venice Biennial for the Zenomap Project of the Scottish Pavilion. He collaborated on the creation of the set for the performance-to-camera film 'The Set Up' (Susie Green & Ilana Mitchell) and assisted in making a music video for the UK band 'Field Music'. Slater has a 1st Class Hons. degree in Fine Art from the University of Dundee.
