DANIEL ABLITT

Bristol-based Daniel Ablitt studied Fine Art at Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh and Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education and has been practising full-time as an artist since 2002.

When Daniel observes the landscape, he doesn’t set out to portray the likeness of a particular location but seeks to engage with the profound effect it has on us as human beings, from nostalgia and comfort to awe and mystery. His paintings depict partly-imagined places and half-remembered landscapes captured mostly from his travel experiences and childhood. These memories are pieced together with other fragments of influence, including from film and literature, to express and explore his personal mythology. As a result, the work has a dreamlike quality and a haunting sense of familiarity.

Daniel’s works often feature a very small human figure or two to emphasise the scale of their surroundings and prompt the viewer to reflect on their place in the world. “The placing of a solitary figure or a mysterious group in the landscape provides a focal point and adds a narrative aspect to the work,” he says. “These pieces often have a magical, fairy-tale quality and can leave the viewer with more questions than answers.” The figures also offer a glimpse of an intimate moment and invite us into a world of new, imagined possibilities.

Daniel uses light brushwork to bring out tiny details, such as glowing lights or blossoming flowers, contrasted with larger areas of washed-out, inky mark-making, which adds to the ethereal atmosphere.

Daniel’s work is exhibited extensively in gallery shows and art fairs in the UK and abroad, including the solo exhibitions Journeys at Will’s Art Warehouse in 2019 and Foundations at Sarah Wiseman Gallery in Oxford in May 2018, which followed a sell-out show at New York Affordable Art Fair in March that year. His work is represented in many private and public collections around the world.