Artist Statement:

The work is a response to music.

The application of texture and the act of painting with a brush are fundamental elements of the process.

The predominant language of the work is held to just color and line. The physical nature of the medium allows expression throughout the intimacy of textured the inherently flawed method of application.

The painting does not attempt to represent, only to record what is evoked. These evocations may be of a first kiss, a perfect summer or a departed friend.

In this way, the paintings often become more about memory and the act of painting than the music itself. Each painting has the title of the music that inspired it.

Artist Biography:

Born in the United Kingdom, currently living and working in Houston, Texas, David studied technical illustration at Blackpool and Fylde College of Art. His earlier work leaned heavily on his illustration background. These figurative oil paintings were constructed to act as a story in short form. A person with an invented history, on the brink of action or in repose, often with song lyrics carved into the freshly applied oil paint. The work was well accepted. Art of England magazine chose a painting of his for their cover, he was the overall and peoples choice winner of the Wrexham Art open and was voted Houston Press artist of the year in 2014. After showing consistently in the USA and England, David opened and ran an art gallery first in Galveston, Texas, and then in Houston. After a six-year run he returned to painting full time with a new body of work, the circles. “The choice of the circle is at once arbitrary yet entirely appropriate. It lends me a structure within which to just paint and is a pure response to the music I choose.” The shape is constant and a gateway to a symphonic whirl of color composition that evolves line by line, layer upon layer. Optical effects may be encountered but this is a by-product and not the intention. Each finished artwork carries a title of a piece of music.

David Hardaker

"Chisel" Contemporary Abstract Magenta Ombre Shaped Concentric Oval Painting, 2024