Daniel Ablitt

1993 – 1997 BA (fine art, painting), Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh / University of Gloucestershire

When Daniel observes the landscape, he does not set out to record a likeness of a particular location but seeks to engage with the profound effect it has on us as human beings. His paintings depict partly-imagined places and half-remembered landscapes captured mostly from his travel experiences and childhood. These memories are pieced together with other fragments of influence that have been absorbed through film and literature combining to express and explore his personal mythology. The work has a haunting sense of familiarity presenting the viewer with a symbolic and dreamlike imagery perhaps a landscape feature that has settled onto our human collective consciousness, such as a secluded lake, forest or mountain.

Daniel's use of light brush work brings out tiny details, such as glowing lights or blossoming flowers in contrast to larger areas of washed out inky mark-making, staining the surface, adding to the dream-like quality. Like a dream the landscapes in them seem to recede into a mist or glow, with no particular beginning or end-point, they are full of detail but never over-worked.