Peter Wolland is an artist and lecturer at Sunderland University. He is a painter known distinctly for his thick layers of paint and expressive technique. Wolland finds painting exciting and is heavily inspired by art history, places, exhibitions and paint itself. From Northern Ireland, to Pembrokeshire, to Washington, Wolland used the landscapes around the places he lived to create his work and almost painted to become part of said landscape. Art became a tool for Wolland to explore the environment that surrounded him.
Having studied art and drawing at Reading University, Wolland developed a love for Impressionism and abstract art. Quick a5 drawings would be translated into large paintings on huge canvases. Much like Jackson Pollock, one of Wollands key influences, the paintings would be created by working on the floor. Starting with a light wash, paint is built up gradually to build small structures within the work. Colour is used to open and close spaces. Expression is a huge part of Wolland's artistry, with not much thought being put into composing a picture and more attention brought upon each individual stroke or movement. A lot of these skills were applied from his degree and transferred into his regular practice.
Moving on from landscapes, Peter began to include more figures into his pieces. He felt these created more drama and added an essence into each piece, however he still stuck with his key elements such as the scale and the fascination with paint. Wolland takes inspiration from the renaissance period, specifically Michelangelo.
As someone interested in expressionism and the way paint behaves, myself, Peter Wolland is a great inspiration to my work. I deeply admire his process and the way the paint forms a 3D affect on the canvas.