If I were to be offered this amazing bursary I would wish to pursue ideas and techniques that I have recently been exploring in a small way, I would take the opportunity the bursary allows to increase both the scale and ambition of my work.
Without consciously directing it my work has become increasingly concerned with climate change. I
have been working from landscapes that reflect this change, including flooded fields in the Vale of
Pickering, wind turbines dominating the moors above Manchester and the destructive burning-off on the grouse moors in North Yorkshire.
I have recently been working with different media and processes in order to push my work further. I
developed a new method of working using a homemade mixture of graphite and oil producing a
deep, rich, thick black ‘gloop’ which, when painted onto board, results in distinctive monochromatic
images. I combined this with graphite pencil drawing allowing the image to be both descriptive and
painterly, specific yet open to the imagination, I call this process ’Dislocated locality’.
I have also been experimenting with a cold wax medium mixed in with the oil paint, which has
allowed me to develop this idea further by working in layers, both obscuring and revealing the history of the painting. Working from sketches and from memory my aim is to convey the essence of place.
Give the opportunity I would wish to explore the upland landscape of the moors of both County Durham and North Yorkshire in more depth and learn the physical effects of climate change from experts experiencing and recording it. I would use the funds for travel and research. I would also use the bursary to purchase materials and supports in order to work larger and more expressively than I have been able to, allowing me to experiment with techniques, make mistakes and for my work to grow immeasurably.
At the end of the bursary I would like to hold an exhibition of the work produced. I would want my work to be larger in both scale and impact, to be critically engaged with my subject matter in order to join the conversation around climate and contemporary art.
Climate Change affects every one of us.
Sometimes it may not seem so, only highlighting distant places and people.
Without hectoring or declaiming but by subtly drawing attention to the effects on our own doorstep here in the North, I would wish to raise questions in viewers in Darlington and leave them room to wonder how it might affect them personally.
Our wild landscapes of moors and valleys in both North Yorkshire and County Durham are, for many, places to escape to, permanent and unchanging, Picturesque and pleasant.
By creating large scale contemporary paintings of the landscape seen in a new and sometimes disturbing light, I would wish to make Darlington a focal point in our national conversation about Climate change. I don’t expect to change attitudes or outcomes, but by drawing attention, raising questions and reflecting a New Picturesque I would like to think that Darlington could be an outpost in our realisation of our effects on our own personal environment.
I would like the paintings to be beautiful first and foremost, what comes afterwards would ideally be a gradual appreciation and adaptation.
I am a visual artist based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Producing paintings and drawings
predominately seascapes and landscapes, sold in local galleries and directly to the public through
open-studio events. Until recently based in a baiting shed on Scarborough harbour where I also
documented the declining Fishing Industry. I have built up a strong reputation with a loyal local
following for my work, which is held in Public Galleries and private collections.
My work could be described as documentary, I prefer to work from life and experience; drawing,
painting, photographing and recording my surroundings and the subject matter that interests me. In
the past I focused on former centres of Industry, depicting the grandeur and dramatic beauty that I
found in the physical remains of our Industrial Heritage.
In 2000 I moved to Scarborough and immediately became interested in documenting the town’s
Fishing Industry which was suffering a slow decline. After making enquiries with the Harbour
Master, I rented an old baiting shed in order to get closer to my subject matter. Whilst at first the
fishermen were wary of me, they became used to me drawing them at work and I have since
accompanied them out on Fishing trips several times. Throughout this time the sea was a constant
in my work. Constantly changing, constantly inspiring.
I have been shortlisted twice for the ING Discerning Eye Drawing Bursary.
I am a member of The Fylingdales Group of Artists exhibiting every year at The Pannett Art Gallery in Whitby. Recent exhibitions include;
East Coast Open, Scarborough Art Gallery
Fylingdales Group of Artists, Pannett Art Gallery, Whitby
Feren’s Open, Feren’s Art Gallery, Hull.
1995 – 1997 Central St. Martins College of Art, Post Graduate Diploma in Illustration
1990 – 1993 Liverpool John Moores University, BA Hons in Illustration and Graphic Design
2005 Arts Council England creative practice grant towards a solo exhibition
2001 Yorkshire Arts Grant towards materials
I am involved with a ‘pop-up’ gallery in Scarborough, Gallery 33. Where I volunteer time in order to sell work directly to the public in an empty shop.
In 2016 I was a lead artist on ‘The Prison Drawing Project’, a contemporary drawing exhibition held in the former Scarborough Gaol as part of ‘Coastival’
2000 – 2005 I was a studio-holder at Crescent Arts in Scarborough, an artist run studio and gallery space.
I have been commissioned to create a painting for Scarborough Art Gallery’s permanent collection.
I was commissioned in 2012 to run a workshop at The Ferens Art Gallery in Hull
My work has been purchased by The Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate and by Scarborough Art Gallery
I was included in an online curated exhibition concerning climate change; Carbon Borders Voices:
https://sites.google.com/view/carbon-borders-voices
I have featured in local and national press
Including The Guardian;
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/jan/02/fish.arts
I am represented by;
‘The Pineapple Gallery’, Bishop Auckland, County Durham
‘Gallery 49’, Bridlington
‘Gallery 33’, Scarborough
2006, Knaresborough Castle, Artist in residence with a solo exhibition at The Mercer Gallery in Harrogate
2009, Rosedale Abbey on The North York Moors, Artist in residence for one year as part of ‘Inspired by Heritage’ run by Art Connections
https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5e62541f9394b2277d6d06f2/5f50b16d9ebeb5a229814206_Inspired-by-Heritage-Brochure.pdf
Email: andrew_cheetham@hotmail.com
Address: 7 Palace Hill, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO11 1NL, GB
Local Authority: North Yorkshire
