In 2021 I made a number of artworks for a ‘folk pagan horror’ film, commissioned by production designer Alison Butler. The film has just been released on Amazon – I was amazed to see how prominent my painted backdrop was throughout the film; quite often an artwork that’s taken days is only on screen for a few seconds, so to see the painting from the very beginning of the film, used so effectively to set the tone and atmosphere in the trailer and even to carry the narrative was fantastic.
The brief was to paint a large backdrop to look ‘medieval, folk, naive’ – to use an ‘Autumn palette’ which informed the entire aesthetic. I was pretty much free to choose my own motifs and characters and even had to ‘imagine’ the central mythical ‘Gallow Gog’ that would be digitally embedded into the film post-production. I’m told the director loved the painting and kept it himself after the shoot…
Work in progress on my studio wall
