ABOUT RORY PHOENIX

I was born in Durban South Africa, and for as long as I can remember art has been part of my life. At the age of five I was putting my pictures up for sale on the sidewalk outside my parents apartment block. If I remember correctly, I even sold a few.

It was at the Durban College of Art that I learned the fundamentals of drawing and design. Although my major courses were in commercial art (design and advertising), we were encouraged to dabble in all forms of creative expression. After graduating, I worked in the advertising field and also began to paint and experiment in various mediums — exhibiting in a variety of shows.

My thirty-year career in advertising has been extremely educational. As an Art Director working on large international accounts, I hired all forms of top class creative talent — people that I learned a lot from. I discovered that whether itʼs a painting, sculpture, illustration or film, there are universal principles which dictate if a piece is compelling or not. Be it the subject, shape, proportion, color or light, every successful work of art has the element of tension and surprise.

My painting reflects my life experience: Time has taught me how much I love the ocean and outdoors; they are my sources of inspiration. The canvasses are painted in several layers to increase density, color, and complexity. I have always had a love of paint and all its characteristics — be it fresh and creamy, transparent and mysterious, or even old and peeling. I am very interested in surfaces. What is hidden and revealed is often the most important element of the piece. Tension is vital and I achieve it in different ways. It can be an expressionistic smear of paint or a bold chip of color. The idea is to always reward the eye.