PAUL CADDEN

Drawing in a hyperrealist style gives Cadden the opportunity to tweak and change the way that we perceive what is around us. This starts from the very beginning of his artistic process with the use of Photoshop in order to manipulate his images to highlight certain parts, adjust the focus or change the depth of field. He says “around three quarters of the way through the drawing you start to refer less and less to the material and you make up your own aesthetic judgements when it comes to tonality”. This is very important in creating images that whilst are complete and the viewer can appreciate as representations of cities and people, they are a deeper and more complex. They are no longer just amazing drawings that look like black and white photographs; they are images that capture the social and/or political culture and feeling of a place and time. 

This exhibition explores new pencil drawings by Paul Cadden ranging in themes from landscape to portraiture…Cadden has always been influenced by the scenes of day to day life whilst on his travels and within his works there is often a diverse cultural mix.

Paul Cadden explains that “hyperrealism tends to create an emotional, social and cultural impact and differs from photorealism which is far more technical. My inspiration comes from the phrase ‘to intensify the normal’. I take everyday objects and scenes of people and then create a drawing which carries an emotional impact- it can be quite beautiful”. This means creating works that focus on detail in order to make them as realistic as they can be. Once this is achieved the artist has freedom to push the images and deepen our view of the everyday and ordinary.