‘Pensive Western Gorilla’ 

Oil on canvas 

(H60cm x W40cm) 

Western Gorilla Classification - Critically Endangered (CR) 

Previously on display at 'Art Box Chester'

(17/09/2021-25/05/22)

Exhibited in The Virtual Artists Exhibition – ‘Summer Arts Festival’ 

12th -26th June 2021 

Which, ‘right now is THE ONLY fully immersive and interactive virtual art gallery in the world. We work in partnership with Robots of London, which is the leading company in Europe specialising in Virtual Reality and robotics.’ 

I chose to enter this piece as it is a perfect representation of my style of painting as a whole. It contains my most distinctive stylistic elements - the focal point of the piece – the ‘Pensive Western Gorilla’ with its attention to detail shows the element of realism, which is often incorporated with my work, as well as its prevalence as a favourite subject matter of mine, animals are often in some way featured within my paintings. The background, in terms of its intense, vibrant multicoloured pallet which the gorilla is disappearing into, forms the majestic hazy depths to his colourful jungle. This use of vibrant colours and the creation of the majestic, hazy depths to the background, with the subject disappearing into/out of, popping out of, is an atmosphere I aim to create in much of my work. 

‘Pensive Western Gorilla’ is from a collection I called ‘Our Endangered World’. As an animal lover and artist, I found myself embarking on a journey, in which it was my mission to not only attempt to create beautiful artwork but to capture the majestic beauty of animals who live among us in this ever-changing world.  

Furthermore, the desire I had was not only to capture their beauty but also their vulnerability, as well as their strength. I had hoped to create some awareness through my artwork, of some of the incredible animals we share this world with, who are classified as vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered. I felt a sense of responsibility to raise awareness and remind people of the beauty of our animals, before any more of them become extinct from the world we know and continue to destroy.