:
jez prior : 1955 :

jez prior studied at hornsey school of art. in 1978, after signing a record contract with rca records, he worked extensively in the music business, first in the post-punk scene and then in the 'new romantics' as a musician. in the eighties he began to produce other artists’ music as a freelance engineer and producer, moving in to training and lecturing in professional recording and mixing techniques. in 1989 he became interested in buddhism, which reignited a desire to paint again, by may 2006 he made
the decision to paint full time.

"my painting releases me from the mundane, and this gives me the freedom to paint whatever image or non image i wish. i use colour as my inspiration and try to disengage the thinking part of myself, letting the unknown part become apparent. trusting my brush more than my thoughts, i paint with my eyes closed letting the inner landscape through – not using logic but relying on an inner sense of balance.

it could be described as the spirit, or the soul, or the heart. i suspend my reason. i create another dimension with every painting. i don’t plan anything. i start each painting when the feeling to begin gets strong enough. i let the painting develop where it seems to want to go; i get lost in the painting as i do it.

this is how i produce work. i enjoy making a 'dimensionality' happen. i enjoy the ambiguity when the finished piece looks like it could be something, yet we are not entirely sure what it resembles. it is for the observer to decide, as despite what i may think, people will always interpret images with their own meanings. i indulge the need to paint 'realistically', whilst painting a new non- reality – an abstraction.”