Wendy Jane Bantam | Assurity Life Insurance

The initial desire to paint comes from my wish to communicate language of nature through color and energy. The paintings tend toward more abstract sensibilities. This allows the source of imagery and story to recede and in it’s place, indulge in a more speculative and poetic visual imagery that relies on chance and expressive technique.

Nature relies on dynamic qualities. In drawing and painting this translates as marks, textures, and color as a means to express vitality and living energy.

I have always had a fascination with Abstract Expressionism, Japanese Ukiyo-e artists and the woodblock print tradition.  The work of Hiroshige (53 Stations of Tokaido) and Hokusai (36 Views of Mount Fuji) are especially relevant in their endeavour to capture the vitality of landscape in a comprehensive series of works. Van Gogh’s vibrant, energetic approach to mark making have also guided me.

I have been described as a colorist, a magical realist, a symbolist, and abstract expressionist.