Adrian Sykes

Born in 1970 in Merseyside, he has lived in Merseyside, Ireland, Yorkshire and is now permanently based in Bristol yet still travels extensively, on a quest for new inspirations. Adrian is an artist of Jamaica Street Studios, a thriving Bristol Artist community. Being at the centre of creative activity in the city continuously drives his work. Adrian has had several solo exhibitions of his work and participated in numerous group exhibitions across the UK.

“With most of my works I try to express a feeling of joy and happiness. I like to add humour and quirkiness along with bright colours which I hope give the paintings a lightness and optimism. I aim to capture a sense of ‘hopefulness and peace’ but sometimes enjoy adding slightly unnerving or even comic elements. Whilst a house alone on a lake might be someone’s dream home or sanctuary, its setting is one of isolation and impracticality requiring extreme effort to reach or escape from. I use distorted scale to present visual challenges such as high walls, tiny windows, elongated ladders, towering cliffs, tall trees and long winding paths to add drama to the moment.

These elements combined are equally happy and playful as they are laced with challenge, arduous travelling, restriction and loneliness. Some may be a more likely setting for a dark fairy tale than one that ends happily ever after, but what I try to achieve is giving the viewer pleasure in making their own interpretation of the image before them.”