used to have water fights 'round here before it got stabby

Oil on canvas.

90cm x 125cm.

"Lewis Buttery creates contemplative abstract canvases that - taking cues from the dynamic aesthetics of street art - are enlivened with expressionism. As deep blues rupture composition-dominating pinks, harmonious and contrasting colour palettes are used here to symbolise varying mental states and emotions. Having worked extensively with charities to deliver workshops within schools, youth clubs, and prisons, Buttery’s practice investigates the complex intersection of mental health, class and institutional social hierarchy." - StART Curators Eye

This is part of my 'A Common Metaphor' series of paintings, from 2020, mostly done during lockdowns. The colour palettes for these pieces are inspired by imagined landscapes and the sky. The naming convention I used for them is that the titles are song lyrics. The reason for that is because the inspiration behind the series itself was noticing that the weather is a common metaphor for happiness in music: especially in relation to the sky / the sun / the weather. The titles are in lower-case because it communicates the opposite of upper-case; where capital letters have a shouty effect, lower-case has a quiet confidence.