In my current fine art practice I am exploring abstraction, and use urban street photography as inspiration for developing painting works.  I am currently drawn to exploring themes of the void, juxtapositions of geometric angles inspired by architecture, vivid acid colours illuminated by fluorescent street lighting, and the enigmatic, melancholic atmosphere of urban spaces at night. 

Edward Hopper, Wolfgang Tillmans, Sean Scully, and Gerhard Richter are particular influences for this series, alongside a multitude of lesser known visual artists I enjoy discovering via Instagram.  My Instagram page contains further reference to my current works in progress and it is a pleasure to engage with others about creativity through the interactive nature of this platform, so please check it out! @jayray_art_  

Working within the genres of landscape and the figurative, themes of disconnection and connection have been a thread through my visual arts practice.  Recurring subjects such as, urban streets, crowds at rush hour, contemplative urban inhabitants, solitary sleeping commuters, and people scrolling online, may infer a theme of 'disconnect' in a relentless pace of life, isolation from community, disengagement from the natural world or dissociation from self.

I often sketch on location to draw inspiration from the urban spaces I inhabit, combining text with visual elements and scribbling diary-like writing to record snippets of overheard conversations, my thoughts about a place and autobiographical reflections.  In these more intimate works I use drawing to document and connect with a sense of the energy or atmosphere within a space, memories sparked by associations, and my emotions as embodied in that moment.

I am drawn to utilising delicate materials that lend an ephemeral quality such as tracing paper or graph paper, and often layer fragments by loosely attaching the pieces together with tape and staples.  This approach could reference transience or impermanence and the idea that there are multiple perspectives without fixing a single viewpoint.  In the act of drawing I try to encapsulate an immersive experience of observing by simultaneously recording external and internal landscapes.  

My theoretical research interests have focussed on contemporary documentary photography, art and film that seeks to acknowledge lived experiences and empower marginalised perspectives. Artist influences include; Julie Mehretu, Grayson Perry, Jeremy Deller, Jo Spence, Martin Parr, Richard Billingham, Susan Hiller, Edward Hopper, Käthe Kollwitz, Francis Bacon, Alberto Giacometti, Leon Kossoff, Ian Breakwell, Joy Gregory, Japanese prints and paintings. Theoretical influences include; artist as flâneur, psychogeography, Automatic Writing, Concrete Poetry, and the Everyday.