Simon Darling — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

Biography

Simon Darling is a Danish artist who grew up being exposed to the creative nature of his mother, who were an emerging abstract artist. In a young age he quickly engaged himself in drawing and painting. With a passion for creating, building and designing, turning his thoughts and ideas into visual and physical forms, at the age of 14 he quickly spun the garage into a studio, where he found solitude and a way of self-expression through painting. Besides holding a degree in Architectural technology and design, he is mainly self-taught. Simon has held 6 solo exhibitions, and have had his work included in 10 group shows. An artist with international appeal, he is represented in private collections in Europe, Australia, Japan and USA. Latest Simon have been awarded with the prestigious 'Artist of the Future Award' for the most outstanding and talented artists in the art world, furthermore he has been recognized in media and books such as CAE Book Volume IV 2021, CAC Magazine USA 2020, TIAF Magazine, Japan 2019 and Art/Edit Issue 23, Australia 2019.
“Through my paintings, I unite and express the unexplainable, indefinite and confusing emotions, from the obscure realm of imagination”

Artist Statement

Simon Darling is an award winning artist who makes paintings and mixed media artworks. His work examines the individual and universal interactions found in contemporary portraiture. Startling the audience with simplified and distorted forms. The perception of the detailed impulse, with its raw, immediate, and unflinching emotional depth delivering a confusing characteristic visualization.
Layered, abstracted marks are added to each layer revealing visceral, emotional intensities and depth.
By manipulating the viewer to create confusion, he tries to approach a wide scale of subjects in a multi-layered way, likes to involve the viewer in a way that is sometimes physical, emotional and believes in the idea of function following form in a work. With every new piece, the artist leaves us orphaned with a mix of conflicting feelings and thoughts. With a subtle pseudo-minimalistic approach, he often creates several practically identical works, upon which thoughts that have apparently just been developed are manifested: notes are made and then crossed out again, ‘mistakes’ are repeated. His practice provides a set of metaphoric tools for maneuvering with a pseudo-minimalist approach in the sphere of painting: these methodically planned works resound and resonate with visions culled from the deep and dark realm of imagination.

What first prompted you to think of becoming an artist?

As a child I grew up being exposed to the creative nature of my mom, who was an emerging abstract artist. As a kid I like as many others engaged in drawing and painting and the fascination of creating and designing grew stronger the older I got. I don’t recall having the exact thought of me wanting to be a professional artist and make it into a living, but it has always been something I sought after, so somewhere in my sub-consciousness I think I’ve always low key have let it guide me towards it by taking small steps, keep creating, be patient and find and spend time doing what I cannot live without now; designing, creating and of course painting.

What kind of an artist do you ultimately see yourself?

I see myself as a visual contemporary artist, as an art school drop-out and an artist who tends to deviate from the traditional concepts and techniques of painting, and with my uncomplicated approach and goal of perplexing the basics and nature of art.

What are you hoping to communicate to the viewer through your work?

My paintings both communicate a psychological and philosophical aspect. The psychological aspect in my paintings is about self-development, it is looking at the bright blue sky, it doesn’t tell us anything, we have to go deeper, we have to dig into the black vastness of space away from what we know to find the “answer” same thing goes for ourselves, we have to dig into ourselves, find ourselves where we are ‘damaged’ the most and start loving ourselves from there, and from there by doing that we will grow to far beyond what we would if we weren’t aware or confronted these feelings we have hidden away. The philosophical aspect of my paintings relates to each and everyone’s individual life and story, how we each and every one is different and have to deal with our “demons” the same way, but on a different level. Trying to create an experience that the audience can relate to, as we all at some point have experienced new and unknown feelings, and it’s important when that happens that we try to understand and analyse the feelings to gain a better understanding of ourselves and grow as human beings. Creating mixed emotions and thoughts in the audience, allows them to gain and express themselves in their own way, my paintings are not dictating what to feel, what to think or what to experience, they are providing the ‘unknown’ which the audience can dive into and take away exactly what they want or need from it. I hope that my paintings will result in inspirational emotions and thoughts which each individual can generate to their own benefit.

Can you explain the process of creating your work?

My process of creating work is always a very unsettling process as a curious and deep thinking individual I’m always trying to expand my spectrum and since I can remember my mind has always been ‘speeding’, every second a million new thoughts arise. I can hear something or look at something and then my mind kicks into overdrive, trying to process all of these new thoughts and ideas. I tend to dig really deep and always end up with a fathomless consciousness of a burnt-out mind. My thoughts and experiences definitely impact my artwork, as the main factor in my paintings, with a tendency to drag most inspiration from the deep, dark and obscure realm of imagination. My process starts by analysing all the thoughts in my mind trying to stay focused on the emotional aspect of the unknown, the new thoughts, feelings and experiences we as individuals have never encountered before, and have a trend to not explore enough. While creating the process involves a lot of “mistakes” and deviations from the first original idea, upon which thoughts that have apparently just been developed are manifested: thoughts and ideas are made and then crossed out again, and “mistakes” are repeated along the process until finished result.

What is your favourite part of the creative process?

Art in any form is the definition of a person’s singular expression of thoughts, emotions or perceptions. Art can be a way of seeing the world from ones perspective, which is in many ways an expression of an artist’s character. Art is how we communicate what cannot be explained with words. Through art we explain the unexplainable, by creating a deeper meaning through another ‘dimension’ or spectrum with the media we choose as a content explanation method. My favourite part of the creative process is the way we express our imaginative conceptual thoughts and ideas, through each individual’s technical skills, we attempt to evoke a certain kind of emotion, a reflection or visualization to put our message across. The process is what defines the art in my opinion, the process is why I create and do what I do, from a thought or idea to a finished painting. A painting is a product; the creative process is the ‘art’.

Can you give us an insight into current projects and inspiration, or what we can look forward to from you in the near future?

I have more inspiration than time unfortunately but I’m currently working on a few commission works and some side ‘hustle’ projects designing and customizing clothes and lately through my Instagram (@simon_darling) I ran a social media engagement ‘project’ where everyone had a chance to send through their portraits, and I’d pick 5 portraits to interpret in my own style and paint. Later this month I’m starting 5 new paintings for an exhibition in November 2021. Some future overseas exhibition is in the making which can hopefully be scheduled later this year or beginning of next.

Website www.sdarling-art.com

Instagram @simon_darling