The Future Tense

Jamie Shaw

Born in London, Brighton-based Jamie Shaw had a nomadic upbringing, spreading his time across a number of European cities including Leiden, Holland where he worked as a boat painter.

Having spent so much of his early life on the move, mostly travelling by train, his depictions of natural forms are instinctively abstracted; memories of environments in a constant state of flux; trees, mountains, clouds and oceans shifting in and out of substance. This visual narrative translates directly to his paintings, where strong structural forms dissolve into simple marks of paint, changing the viewer’s perception from object, to image, to a mere suggestion of form and colour.

Away from nature and the physical world, Jamie also explores the relationship between perception and differing states of consciousness. Music in particular has become essential to stimulate the immediacy of his painting, and the expression of rhythm and tone manifests itself clearly in his work.

Aside from painting, Jamie has also been involved in a number of collaborative art projects including establishing a Brighton exhibition space, where he curated a dozen shows over a 10-month period, as well as co-editing several magazines. He is also heavily engaged in experimenting with different aspects of writing, photography, film and music around his core painting practice.