Curriculum Vitae
PHILIP EDWARDS
Every thing in nature is individual [….] We have no abstract idea of existence, distinguishable and separable from the idea of particular objects.
David Hume.

As a born again Christian, I am convinced of the importance of the individual, and a personal relationship with God. I therefore do not idealise or flatter my subjects, but portray them as they are; as individuals. I do not wish to distance the viewer from the subject by perceived wealth, social status, or intellect, but rather to engage with the subject on an immediately communicative and intimate level.

When a person’s eyes are directed away from you, as is the case in many of my works, that person appears to be locked away from the outside world, lost in their own thoughts and experience. They are then the passive recipients of the viewers gaze, consciously or unconsciously. The moment their gaze is lifted however, and is directed outwards towards the viewer, it is no longer them that is being studied, but the viewer. They are aware of your presence, and engage with you as you do with them.

At present I am interested in illuminated manuscripts, and the relationship my drawings have to such work. How my models relate to the text and image I find intriguing. I therefore chose my models very carefully, using light expressively and interpretively to link them to the text and image, in some cases drawing them as onlookers, or as named characters in the stories.

My work is also very selective in bringing out certain details, and omitting others. Just as a piece of music needs bombastic phrases to contrast with the more subtle and lyrical passages, so a drawing requires similar contrasts. Areas if intense detail require expanses of quietness to highlight their intensity and vice versa.

Selected Exhibitions.

April 2003 – Student Exhibtion, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
January 2003 – New Faces 2003,The Leith Gallery, Edinburgh
July 2003 – Compass Gallery, Glasgow
October2003 – John Martin Gallery, New York.
November 2003 – Red Door Gallery, Edinburgh
Frames Contemporary Gallery, Perth

Education

Florence Academy of Art – Summer 2001 and 2002
Edinburgh University and college of Art – MA (Honours Fine Art)
1st Class Honours History of Art
Perth Academy – 1992-1998