Michael Critchley

Profile

Name: Michael Critchley
City: Trinity Park
Country: Australia

Joined: Mar 2007

www.paintography.com.au

“Paintography for me is the linking of a lifetime interest in photography and painting and my profession as a graphic designer. This modern descriptive word for my art is so new it’s not in the dictionary yet.

So how to describe my art? I would say it is the passion for creative freedom and daring to be different. The computer is a great blending tool for colour, form and texture. From one photograph I like to see the technical permutations developing into an exciting compilation that generates a new series of paintographs. ‘Kimono’ is an example of this.

My aim with this work is to highlight digitism, (the quality and recognition of ‘paintography’) and its place in the art world. My interest in this art form began in the early 90’s with ‘Painter’ and if I had to classify my style of work with an ‘ism’ – naturalism, idealism and romanticism would all come to mind.

The purists of photography will have difficulty in accepting the transformations of my art, as will the artists who believe that only physical, manual brushstrokes can truly be called painting. I hope to bring to your attention that paintography has its rightful place in the art world. I leave that to you, the viewer, to look at and formulate your own individual interpretations.”