About Naive John

Naive John is collected internationally and has had his works purchased and placed in several important collections including extensive representation in that of influential British super collector David Roberts' Art Foundation (DRAF). His first exhibited painting -Yellow Envy- was bought by Scotland's poet laureate Edwin Morgan. This painting is now in the permanent collection of Glasgow's Hunterian Museum. He is, in addition, the recipient of the Susan Cotton Travel Scholarship Award.

Naive John is self-taught and has worked in various media including 35mm film, egg tempera, oils and, more recently, acrylics.

At the heart of his studio is the computer - which he has been using to enhance his skill set since the 1990s. Taking centre stage is the digital sculpting package ZBrush. This software offers up the possibility of reinventing reality with physically accurate shadow placement and lighting. This digital element - of what is a very lengthy creative process - is largely instinctive and involves a lot of trial and error. The eventual aim is to produce a sculpted model from which he can produce drawings and paintings - an artefact which will blur the boundaries between the analogue/digital and hand made/machine made.

He has described his visual style as unrestrained, dependant on a cartoon-like lack of logic and boundaries. Similarly, the titles are auto fictional and act in service with the accompanying image to suggest an ongoing fascination with alternative histories and realities. The 'Universe as consciousness' is depicted as a form shifting avatar taking a trip down Neuron Lane; sometimes a brilliant fool, sometimes a vintage Max Fleischer style horse, sometimes a French convict - a guileless persona, frequently gender- bending, apparently unconstrained by conventional timelines.

He enjoys Czech stop motion animation, vintage Fleischer cartoons and the uncannily artificial worlds generated by the View-Master toy. A qualified art historian, he is interested in the Northern Renaissance, Cubism, Surrealism, Pop art and German Expressionism.

School photo of the artist aged 13 years.