Nathan Apperley
I moved from my home county Cornwall to Bristol in March 2006. I studied Fine Art at Falmouth College of Arts.
In Cornwall my work was about looking at the everyday real; things and situations I saw around me on a daily basis. Cornwall’s landscape is undeniably beautiful, but the pastoral image cultivated by artists and tourist brochures alike disguise a harsher reality.
Life in Cornwall in the twenty first century is defined as much by suburban sprawl as anywhere else in the Western world. The world I document opposes the tourist brochure façade. My canvasses are saturated with the signs of modern life; golden arches, Burger Kings and desolate petrol stations. Empty car parks and bland housing estates are uncompromisingly honest and evoke discomfort.
I’ve now found my feet in the city, and am beginning to paint again and document my surroundings. Tower blocks, bingo halls, seedy guest houses, they all appeal to me, and the more I explore Bristol, the more subjects I see.
