Colin McCallum

My practice extends across painting, printmaking and video-mapped painting installation. I’m an urban city artist so my art soaks up what is around me, yet I am creating a different world.

I make multi-layered abstractions using acrylic, metallic, spray paints and pens,which respond to the visual...

My practice extends across painting, printmaking and video-mapped painting installation. I’m an urban city artist so my art soaks up what is around me, yet I am creating a different world.

I make multi-layered abstractions using acrylic, metallic, spray paints and pens,which respond to the visual experience of contemporary urban life and the influence of an ‘always on’ digital culture. I am dedicated to exploring the possibilities of abstraction and I often use repeating motifs of vibrating dots and lines, to evoke the colour, light, texture and complex patterns of the city’s digital landscape. In my recent works, especially my latest Metropolis series, I am inspired by the vibrancy and energy of the city at night, particularly the area around my home in London’s Canary Wharf, where illuminated skyscrapers rise above a diminishing backdrop of post-industrial docklands.

In my work I incorporate a variety of materials and techniques, including acrylic, metallic and fluorescent paints, spray paint, stencils and pen. Working in series, my process relies heavily on memory and imagination as opposed to direct observation.