About Chris

Christopher J. Perry is an artist-scientist who was born in West Bromwich, UK. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Warwick at the age of 26. Inspired by nature, Chris has spent over a decade traveling the world, conducting scientific research in countries ranging from the United States to Australia, and more recently, exploring remote locations such as the Amazon Rainforest. Chris is the Co-founder and Co-director of Purple Corn Limited, a creative science consultancy company where he and his wife work on the cusp of the science and the arts.

Artist Statement

I am a self-taught artist and my method is not focused on capturing the ultra-realistic but rather to suggest, with an emphasis on light and colour combinations. I have no real preference for my chosen subjects, they are often driven by some unique quality such as location, pose or how light interacts with it. Through my scientific travels I am grateful to visit many beautiful locations and see many visually unique things that I challenge myself to recreate, usually through capturing the subject as photographs or sketches in real time before they become paintings later in my studio. I paint using soft pastel sticks and so I do not strive for photographic detail but try to keep loose and suggestive through bold mark making. My process is usually to create the silhouette by picking out the darkest values of the subject then begin to create depth and sculpt the shapes using the middle values before finally adding the lightest values to make the final piece ‘pop’ or to direct the eye. I focus on value rather than exact colour choice in an to attempt to emphasize the the contrast between the darkest and lightest areas of the painting. I do not really ‘plan’ the composition of a painting too much, usually only the general layout and perspectives as I tend to organically prefer to improvise whilst resisting the urge to ‘overpaint.’ I do not use alcohol washes as underpaintings but rather layer up my painting through methodical colour choices before realizing the final challenge of the process - knowing when to stop!

Biography & Recent Exhibitions

Chris has exhibited with the Pastel Society (PS), Royal Society of Marine Artists (RSMA) and the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) at the Mall Galleries in London and has also exhibited with Boomer Gallery at the Tower Bridge in London in an exhibition curated by the great Anthony Fawcett. Chris is part of the New Bath Arts Club (NBAC) who recently held their inaugural exhibition at the Roper Gallery in Bath. He has exhibited at the prestigious London Art Biennale at the Old Town Hall in Chelsea and was selected to be a Wildcard Artist on Sky Arts’ Landscape Artist of the Year. He made the longlist for the Visual Artist Association (VAA) Artist of the Year award was and a highly commended artist in the Explorers Against Extinction Sketch For Survival competition. Chris work has been highlighted in House & Garden magazine by Conde Nast, publications by Bristol 24/7 and The Bristol magazine and also in Somerset Life.

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