Jean-Luc Almonds portraits are a metamorphosis of both creation and destruction, the result of meticulous attention to unintentional and deliberate action, created through layering multiple paintings on top of each other before scratching away at the surface to reveal phantom like faces from beneath. , created through damage and repair, his portraits convey a lack of humanity within their subject, like fleeting ghosts or memories.
His work is inspired by a 'memorial portraiture' (also known as post mortem photography, a popular early 19th century process) within these faces, frozen and unblinking in their lifeless presence. From this, mould like blobs of colour cling to their faces, these painterly apparitions becoming consumed by lichen-like paint. The viewer is inclined to be reminded of their own mortality and how the remnants of time are precious and precariously fleeting.
“I am interested in the transformations that can take place when I am no longer a slave to the image and the painting becomes about paint and surface.”
Jean Luc Almond's paintings have won various awards, including winner of The CASS ART Commission at the National Open Art Competition, Somerset House in 2014. His work has been exhibited in many galleries around London and he is set to become a well known artist on the international art scene.
Jean, born 1990 in DR Congo, studied his degree in Painting at City and Guilds, London Art School
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