electrofolio: Shadric Toop

Biography

Born 1971 in Brighton, England.

Education

Studied Architecture at Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh) and Kingston University.

1994-1999

After a year working in an architectural practice, moved to London to pursue a short-lived career in music, followed by jobs in graphic design/ publishing.

1999-2000

Co-founder/ co-director of product design company Sphere, supplying The Conran shop, Selfridges, Paperchase and the Design Museum.

2000-present

Founder/ director of Sphere Design Associates, a graphic design studio in Brighton, working for clients including Penguin Books and the BBC.

2002-present

Began making art and exhibiting locally.

2007-present

Co-founder/ designer of electrofolio.com - a portfolio website building product for artists. Currently at the beta stage, this product goes live early in 2010.

2008-present

Part-time foundation lecturer at Sussex Downs College.

2009-present

Started keeping a daily drawing blog.
www.shadrictoop-drawingblog.co.uk

My early work (starting around 2002) was an extension of experiments undertaken for graphic design projects during my day job.

Later I began to make pictures for their own sake, developing a process that involves photomontage, drawing and painting. Gradually the work became larger and more complicated until soon each piece was taking on average 6 months to make.

I am reluctant to put my artistic intentions into words. The danger is that when I try, I end up tying myself up in semantic knots. It's not that there's nothing worth saying, it's just that putting it into words is mostly inaccurate, insufficient or just a waste of time. I'm more comfortable with pictures than words.

Francis Bacon also rejected the idea that his pictures could be explained in words. He wanted to make a direct connection with what he referred to as 'the nervous system' by 'bypassing the brain'; making you feel something that is a 'direct response to the visual experience'. Ironically his words don't really make sense (how can you 'bypass the brain'?) but if you just look at his paintings, you begin to understand. It gets you in the guts.

I am also drawn to European Baroque painting (1600-1700). Despite the large cultural and historical gap between the artists of that time and me (a British atheist living in the 21st Century), some of those old paintings still have a very powerful effect on me.

From Velázquez to Bacon, I find something mysterious seems to happen when I look at these works; and it appears to have little to do with narrative content or style. I find this intriguing, fascinating.

Personally I am still struggling to try to make art that is good enough to have a comparable 'powerful effect'. It is very difficult to know to what degree I have succeeded or failed so far. I'm just going to keep on working and let others be the judge.

Shadric Toop, 2009

Statement

Cheap and good online portfolios - Electrofolio