Self Portrait 2: The Interior Alarm, When the Exterior’s Calm (2013).
Oil on Canvas (100cm x 100cm)

British painter Carl Beazley’s surreal portraits are distorted, twisted and emotional. Despite this, they have elements of hypo-realism, each painting showing tonal colours, pores and blemishes in the skin.

Beazley is completely self-taught, enabling his work to be free of the influence of others or any hint of a ‘house-style’.

In his own words

Could you please introduce yourself and tell us how and when you first became seriously interested in art?
I’m Carl Beazley, a 26 year old artist from Reading, England.  I started to get into art seriously in the summer of 2012 after clearing out my garage so that I’d have a little studio space to work in.

What artists and influences have driven your work and why?

Pigeon! (2014)
Oil on Canvas (100cm x 100cm)

I tend to be more inspired by an artist’s attitude towards their work. I try not to get too influenced by the work, because then you run the risk of producing bad imitations. I love people like Francis Bacon and Picasso. They wanted to be innovators and produce something that hadn’t existed before. I like the idea of coming up with something that only that person could have created and wouldn’t have existed if they didn’t exist. Many people will say it’s near on impossible to do nowadays, but originality is what I will always strive for.

What do you try to express in your work?
I just try to get a certain feeling or atmosphere in my work. That’s all I want to do. I want anyone who sees my work to have a distinct reaction to it. I’m not too fussed whether they like it or not, I just want them to feel something from it.  A lot of people want to try and understand what an artist was thinking and try and take some deeper meaning from a painting, but that’s never been my aim. I’ve recently done a couple of paintings to try and combat this, where I’ve included pointless equations.  I like the idea of someone trying to figure out what they mean. It’s weird, but when you are confronted with something you don’t understand, an instinctive reaction is to try and find some meaning in it. It’s a natural reaction but I think the great thing about art is that there is no formula. This can frustrate a lot of people though, so I’ve tried to make out that there is some hidden message somewhere, that there is indeed way to figure out what it’s all about.

Jessie & the Missing Piece (2014)
Oil on Canvas (100cm x 100cm)

How does a piece of work evolve for you? What stages do you go through to get to a finished image?
It can vary. Sometimes I can have a distinct idea of what I want to do beforehand and other times I haven’t got a clue. The important thing is that when I am stuck and don’t know what to do, I do something anyway and see where it takes me. Sometimes you can get an even better painting than you imagined, and sometimes it just doesn’t work, but if I waited for a spark of inspiration to come along, I’d only do about 2 paintings a year! The key thing is to actually do something, rather than to think about doing something. I start the process by cutting up photos I have taken and then I move them about until something clicks. After that there’s the very boring, methodical process of drawing it all out using grids to get the proportions right. And then the fun begins when you start to paint. I find it important to experiment with the paint, trying out a number of techniques along the way, otherwise things quickly begin to get stale and predictable. It’s always good when a painting comes out slightly different to how you expected.

Self Portrait 3: Train of thought/Choking Hazzard (2014).
Oil on Canvas (100cm x 100cm)

What direction would you like to take for future works?
I keep saying to people that I’d like to move away from painting. I do find it very limited at times as opposed to other art forms such as music and film. But, then again, there’s an advantage to that. It only takes a split second for someone to see a painting, so trying to create a single image that can have a lasting impression on someone is a different kind of challenge. I always want to bring something new to the table and I’ll try to do that in whatever form I think I can. I think painting is probably the best place to start as the audience is wider – by this, I mean that people don’t have to invest too much time in it, so there’s a better chance of grabbing someone’s attention. If you can condense and convey an emotion, feeling or atmosphere into a single image, without any need for words or a story, it can be unbelievably powerful.

Born in 1988, Beazley currently resides and works in Reading, England. In 2014 he exhibited at The Royal Academy of Arts, London (Reynolds Room), was shortlisted for BBC1 Summer Arts Competition and was the winner of Reading Arts Week.

All images courtesy of Carl Beazley | www.carlbeazley.com

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Work in progress

Work in progress

Let Your Hair Down (2014).
Oil on Canvas (100cm x 100cm)