Armaduras de Arena

German Bradley, Chile

German Bradley is a self-taught abstract artist. He was born in Chile in 1970, but he was raised and educated in North West England. His penchant for drawing and painting started at the age of 10, motivated by his grandfather's charcoal drawings and the characters and illustrations he saw in the comic books he read. Throughout his life, he has always been an avid reader and his artistic inspiration has been mainly based on literature and philosophy. Abstraction has allowed him to express his own spiritual and metaphysical vision of life, represented by symbolic imagery, coming from a psycho-emotional point of view. He has participated in collective exhibitions in France, Switzerland and Italy, and his work have been purchased by private collectors and realtors in Chile and Hong Kong. ARTIST STATEMENT "My work is drawn on spiritual and metaphysical concepts of human existence. It’s a manifestation of alternate realities, using symbolic circles, lines, curvilinear elements and gestures along with vivid colours and contrast. I work primarily with oil on canvas, combining glazing, blending and scumbling to create a sense of complexity or simplicity. I also experiment with gesso, heavy gel, plaster, brick powder, salt and grainy materials to add some tactile textures. Increasingly, my art is moving in the direction of creating more drama. Even though, I am using a different tone, style, colour use and gestural movements, it shares the same intent: to evoke a sense of wonder and to invite the viewer to look beneath the surface of my painting and discover a different, personal perception of reality, away from the collective mental construction we have all been living in. But at the same time, I leave enough room for individual interpretation. My creative process varies from a carefully planned form of expression where I sketch out my compositions to have a clear outline of the ideas I want to see on the canvas or a totally intuitive, spontaneous form, where I just let myself go and trust my instincts, letting the painting guide me. My favourite tools are brushes, paper towels, palette knives and my own fingers. A lifelong connection with subjects such as the planes of existence and understanding, ancient cultural knowledge and the concept of infinite life has always been the source of inspiration for my art and my personal lifestyle.”