Artist statement
Absorption in the natural world, I find to be the most direct way to attain some felt understanding of harmony and beauty. That is perhaps why traditional expressions of landscape have been the most significant source of inspiration in my recent work. Chinese landscape paintings, particularly those from the Song Dynasty, convey the experience of beauty in Nature, not through direct representation but through some process whereby the natural world has been drawn inward and something of its essence has been distilled out onto the surface. Much of my work has emerged from this same process.
Where some of my work attempts to convey some kind of pure and abstract metaphysical expression of natural beauty, other pieces reflect a more personal inward journey. In each case you have a window into a world that reveals a different dimension of the self, exploring where the boundary might lie between the personal and the universal. Connecting all of the work regardless of medium or subject matter is an attempt to organise opposites into a balanced and harmonious whole, appreciating their fundamental interdependence. Taking place in theatre of vision, this play of opposites becomes primarily a story of light.
I ask the viewer to surrender any thoughts and simply meditate upon the artworks so as to remain sensitive to the essence being conveyed through the imagery. Hopefully, this kind of contemplation might deepen the viewer’s connection to spirit and impart a feeling of harmony and serenity.
Bio
Luke Goddard is a fine artist based in the UK. Having grown up in Hong Kong, England and later South Africa, his exposure to such diverse cultures at an early age inspired a strong sense of creative possibility. However, his mixed upbringing often put him at a distance from his peers and challenged him to search for values that transcended cultural differences. Shared appreciation for beauty was a point of connection that revealed this possibility and thus inspired his journey as an artist. Through learning from nature and the wisdom of past traditions, he believes that art presents an opportunity to discover something essential to the experience of beauty and therefore perhaps something truly authentic to Humanness. The search continues.
CONTACT
Instagram @lukegoddard.art