SEAN HEWITT SWAc

Somewhere deep in the heart of South East Cornwall, Sean Hewitt stands

amidst a deluge of daubed canvasses exploding with vivid colour and shapes.

The Little Blue Studio set in the orchard where he lives and works in South East

Cornwall provides sanctuary for his present dedicated exploration of the circle

and all things cyclic.

Recently my work has been focused on a central theme of the symbol of the

circle and its fascination for me in its power and presence in nature, the

man made environment and as a spiritual and primitive symbol - a shape

that precedes time – the formation of the earth in shape long before man

even knew the word circle. My work is committed to the exploration of it –

emotionally and geometrically – its inclusion of colours, shapes, thoughts

and ideas within its borders and its exclusion of shapes and colours and

emotions shut out from its perimeter. The show at the Crypt Gallery, St

Ives is based on the poetry of W B Yeats and his own pre-occupation with

allegorical aspects of Sun and Moon.

As a member of both The St Ives Society of Artists, the Plymouth Society of

Artists and also as a newly elected Academician to the South West Academy of

Fine and Applied Arts,

Sean exhibits widely in the South West as well as

regularly in London with The United Society of Artists .

His early childhood and formative years were spent in the Mediterranean and

Middle East and its easy to see the influence of hot yellows and azure iridescent

blues splashed into his work.

Colour is everything. Sensuous, sweeping shapes are punctuated with

energetic vibrant colours that dominate the moods and emotions in my

paintings. I try to match those early childhood adventures with colour with

the emotional and physical elements around me.

Its hard not to notice the massive litter of hundreds of Cd cases around the studio

amongst tubes of paint and brushes and the constant stream of music playing in

the studio and that the titles of work that foster well chosen lyrics of lines from

songs.

Music too plays an integral and essential part of my life and I can’t live

without it - something is always playing in the background when I am

working and naturally that affects the outcome. Essentially my work is an

emotional response to the people and places I love. I guess the music is

just a hook to hang it on."

The solo show at the Crypt has a special significance for the artist who is fully

aware that the Gallery in the 1940’s really represented some of most forward

thinking and experimental art being created in Britain at that time.

To think that my work will be held on walls that once showed the work of

Hepworth, Patrick Heron, Peter Lanyon and Willemina Barnes- Graham is

very special .

The vibrant paintings are inspired by the poet Yeats’ own pre-occupations and

thoughts on cyclic visions of history and life itself. Sean has taken these and

married them with lines from modern songs to create titles for his own paintings.

These are not merely random explorations of colour variations. In his wider

research Sean became more and more interested in the 348 colour studies

combinations executed by Japanese painter and costume designer Sanzo Wada

in the 1930’s. This referencing gave him even more ammunition in firing explosive

colour to his paintings.

Wada’s colour studies are an amazing inspiration to take even more

challenging steps in creating my work. I wanted to turn up the volume on

my paintings so people could hear the colour. I guess that why I called the

solo show Play it Loud. It symbolizes everything I am trying to do in my

work.

Play it Loud – songs of wandering – can be seen at The Crypt Gallery, Norway

Square, St Ives from April 7th – 13th.

You can also view his work at The Mariners Gallery, St Ives and can contact him

through his website at www.seanhewitt.co.uk