Sean Alexander

Born in 1968 in Stamford, Lincolnshire, Sean studied for a multidisciplinary degree at Bradford Art College and spent 10 years in advertising, design and marketing agencies as a graphic designer and art director. After 20 years in London, he now lives and works in Bath.

T"During those professional years I was exposed to a wealth of visual material but all the while I was commissioning other illustrators, photographers and model makers, under the surface there was a burning ambition to, as it were, get in front of the camera. A short period of freelancing gave me time to explore creating visual imagery myself until the combination of a total computer meltdown and an artist friend's encouragement led me to pursue it full time.

At that time there was a surge in graphic-led fine art, notably from Gary Hume and Julian Opie and my early work was definitely heavily influenced by them - black line and 'shorthand' techniques - simple shapes and muted colours.

In 2000 I started to exhibit at the Apart Gallery that was uniting emerging artists and first time buyers - creating a niche of street/pop driven fine art. Still exploring a variety of graphic techniques, my output covered stencil work, cartoon, instruction/signage language, woodcut and photographic abbreviation.

In 2002, an encounter and collaboration with Paul Weller on the 'Illumination' release where I was redrawing simplified photographs in flat colour, or 'mapping', opened up my own drawing style - constructing with tonal shapes encased in line that could be filled with a simple colour palette.

Since the beginning I have been using household materials - most notably wood effect adhesive vinyls leading to the work I'm most known for now.

It has been compared to traditional marquetry, 'updated for the 21st Century'.

As mixed media collage, the process utilises built up or inlaid layers and combinations of household & industrial vinyl, paint and other everyday materials. Most works are on wooden tray boxes, some framed behind glass. All of the application is cut and laid by hand."